The Wrath of the Tomb Raider
by The Alpha Gray Wolf
Summary: Lara Croft has been sucked into another adventure. Initially not wanting to go on another adventure, she changes her mind after meeting a strapping young treasure hunter and finding out that Trinity is already ahead of her in finding a biblical crown that can actually grant everlasting life. (Rated M for sexual content and rape attempt). NOTE: Sequel canceled.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, I am back. This is going to be my first Tomb Raider story, serves as a sequel to the Rise of the Tomb Raider game. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Tomb Raider. All credits go to the rightful owners. I own the OCs and the plot. Contains spoilers to the first two games, the tie-in comics and the novel 'The Ten Thousand Immortals'.**

* * *

 _ **Lara Croft: The returning character who seeks a mythical object that can grant everlasting life**_

 _ **Ben Wheldon: A British treasure hunter who saved Lara and begins to fall for her**_

 _ **Jankovic: A ruthless, but the patient commander of Trinity who may have an idea as to what happened to Lord Croft**_

 _ **Nadia: An old friend of Lara with an upbeat personality who will prove herself**_

 _ **Zima: The right-hand man of Jankovic**_

 _ **Kovak: The ruthless left-hand man of Jankovic who holds a grudge against Ben and returning character (initially appeared as an unnamed Trinity soldier in Rise of the Tomb Raider)**_

 _ **Slavik: Kovak's best friend and returning character (initially appeared as an unnamed Trinity soldier in Rise of the Tomb Raider)**_

* * *

 _ **Extended summary**_

 _ **It's been some time since her last adventure, and Lady Lara Croft is slowly turning into the one thing that she fears, a killer. However, after meeting a young man, who she is attracted to, she finds hope. Then, her old enemies return. This time, Lara and Ben Wheldon must travel from England to France, to Turkey to search and to beat Trinity to the crown that promises infinite life, the Crown of Immortality.**_

* * *

 _A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education._

 _Theodore Roosevelt_

 _Life is strange. One day, you wake up, live your everyday life and then in an instant, it would change forever. That is how I felt when I was on that island. I have never really believed in all those myths, but as of my Yamatai and Kitezh adventure, there's no reason for me to be skeptical at all about any myths._

 _Lara Croft_

 _London, England_

Lara sat at the counter at a bar. Drinking her troubles away. She had just returned from the Yucatan Peninsula and now she needed a drink to wash away the memories of what happened to her. She couldn't describe what happened to her in the Yucatan.

It seemed like there was not a lot of alcohol to block out the images in her mind. But that did not stop her. She must've asked for her fourth cup of Gin, but that did not stop her from consuming the alcohol. Once she finished her fourth cup, she asked the bartender for another one.

The young blond haired man took Lara's cup, turned his back to her, and instead of filling it with Gin, he filled it with water, believe she has had too much alcohol for the evening. He slips her the cup of water and she drinks it instantly. She was so drunk, she did not even realize she was drinking water instead of Gin. She asked for three more and each time, he filled it up with water.

"Another round," Lara said in a slurred voice to the bartender.

"Excuse me miss, don't you think you've had enough?" He asks with concern. "Gin contains 70% of alcohol. You are going to drink yourself to death ma'am." He knew he was slipping her water, he just wanted to see if she would drink herself to death.

"Another round." Lara insisted. The bartender sneers, maybe she knew that it was water instead of Gin.

He secretly gives her, an alcohol cure. He slipped it into her drink of water. He smiles, when he turns his back, he flashes his smile to her before putting the shot glass in front of her.

When Lara took a long gulp, she felt something lumpy in her throat as she swallowed. "What the hell was that?"

"A cure to alcoholism." The bartender casually said. "Do you have a driver?"

Lara passed out, landing face first on the counter before she could even answer. The bartender smiles. Reaching for under the counter, he pulls out a walkie-talkie. He didn't need to worry about other people. They either come to a bar to party, get high, or to drink alcohol.

"Tango 1-3 (T13) to Tango 1-1 (T11), do you copy over?" The bartender said into the radio.

"Tango 1-3, this is Tango 1-1, I copy, loud and clear." A voice says. "Is Lima (L) target secure?"

"Roger that, Lima target has passed out on the counter at Nineteen hundred hours (7-00 PM), over." The bartender answers. "I gave her a cure to her alcoholism."

"Copy that, Tango 1-3, I need you to bring Lima target to Checkpoint Niner (9). Coordinates follow, Yankee-Victor-Romeo-Tree-Too-Ait-Fife (YVR-285), over."

"Roger that Tango 1-1, carrying Lima target right now, Tango 1-2 is going to help me out over." The bartender puts a hand on Lara's hair. "ETA Fower-Fife minutes (45)." He puts the walkie-talkie away, releases his grip on her hand, jumps over the counter and calls out for someone dancing in the crowd. It was Tango 1-2. "Help me get Lima target out of here."

1-2 and 1-3 grabbed Lara put her arms across their shoulders so they both could equally carry her out.

But someone in the crowd had noticed a bartender and a dancing man carrying an attractive woman out of the bar. He had no idea who these people were, but his hunch was telling them that they were kidnapping the woman.

1-2 and 1-3 carried her through the alley between the bar and a coffee shop.

"Tango 1-3, what is it exactly that you gave her?" 1-2 asked out of curiosity.

1-3 reluctantly answered, but he answered with a sadistic grin on his face. "I gave her a dose of a non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocker called 'Rapacuronium bromide.' It can paralyze people instantly. I slipped a tequila worm in her water and the tequila worm had a shot of that neuromuscular blocking drug."

1-2 could barely comprehend what his ally said. "Yeah, sounds most probable."

"I didn't get that Ph.D. in doctor school by doing nothing," 1-3 said proudly. "Those nine years at UCL were totally worth it."

"Put her down." A voice said. The voice sounded booming, it stopped the two in their tracks. They slowly turned around with caution. They already had a contingency plan if someone caught them carrying a knocked out woman. The man they were facing was handsome, had a full set of long, curly brown hair and had amber colored eyes. He stood at six-foot-two and looked to weight at least two hundred pounds. He looked massive compared to 1-2 and 1-3.

"Listen, my friend, this lady is drunk, and we are giving her a ride home?" 1-3 explained.

"Then why are you taking an alleyway? Don't you park your cars in the parking lot?" The man asked in a thick British accent.

1-2 was getting very annoyed, but 1-3 managed to keep a very straight face to the point where it looked like he was wearing an expressionless mask. "We parked in this alley," 1-3 told.

"Then where's the car, you know this alley says 'No Entry.'" The man told.

1-2 and 1-3's eyes widened. They could not lie this time. They knew, at the drop of a hat, they were busted. Their facial expressions broke apart, giving the man enough evidence that the two were kidnappers.

Before any of them could react, the man charged at them and kicked in 1-3 in the chest. He sent him flying across the ground. 1-2 looked at his fallen comrade before turning to the man. 1-2 dropped Lara into a pile of trash bags before he decided to fight off the man himself. "Come on you wanker."

1-2 throws a punch at the man, who easily deflects it. The man punches 1-2 in the chest hard before kicking him in the testicles. He screams in pain before falling to the ground. The man smiles. "Don't you know it takes two to tango?"

1-3 had recovered and kicked the man in the knee. The man barely budged. He just kicked 1-3 in the temple, knocking him back to the ground. He groans in pain.

1-2, still in pain, grabs the lid of a garbage can and swings it at the man, aiming for his head. He ducks just in time before uppercutting 1-2 in the jaw. He fell flat on his back and hit his head hard on the ground.

1-3, using what strength he still had within him, charged at the man while in a crouching position. He hits the man in the gut with his head, but the man did not go down. He just flipped 1-3 over his shoulder and finished him off with a powerful stomp to his chest. 1-3 folds and coughs, out of breath. This time, both 1-2 and 1-3 were down on the ground and in extreme pain.

"I hurt." 1-3 groans while clutching his chest hard, he had a very difficult time trying to breathe again. A lung might have collapsed. He was finished for either way.

1-2 had a concussion, however. The back of his head was in a lot of pain, but he still had some fight left in him.

The man turns to Lara. He walks up to her and crouches down. Her left eye was being obscured by her long and thick brown hair. He begins to stroke her hair. She looked so vulnerable and he could tell that she was really drunk because every time she breathed, even through her nose, he smelt a foul smell of alcohol.

Then, the man felt something large and blunt smash against the back of his head. The man falls to the ground, clutching the back of his head. A somewhat recovered 1-2 had struck the man with the garbage can lid. The man was hurt but recovered. He kicked 1-2 in the groin, causing him to fold forward before he received a kick to the nose, sending him staggering backward.

1-2 did not go down, but when he saw his injured comrade, 1-3, he knelt down to help him up, he figured that even a big man like his opponent would need time to recover due to the fact that he was in the back of the head with the lid of a garbage can.

1-2 put 1-3's arm over his shoulder and lifted him upwards. 1-3 was breathing rapidly. "I think I have a collapsed lung," 1-3 said in a hoarse voice.

1-2 looked back to where his opponent should be lying and instead found him standing no more than several inches in front of him. The man punches 1-3 in the cheek, knocking him off his feet before he punches 1-2 in the stomach and finishing him with a hammerfist to the jaw. Knocking him flat on his back and unconscious. 1-3 was still conscious, but barely. His face was covered in all kinds of cuts and bruises. He was in no condition to be fighting. The man just let him lie there, all curled up like a cat and clutching his chest.

The man looks back at the still drugged Lara. He moves to her. He will feel guilty, but he looted her black leather jacket. Not for money, but to find out where she lived. Her address. Finding her wallet in the back pocket, he finds out that her name is Lara Croft, born on February 14, 1992, and her address was 142, Abbington Road, Guildford in Surrey, England ( **I got this information from the Tomb Raider wiki** ). Now he had a destination.

He places the wallet in the back of his pants and picked up the drugged Lara and put her over her shoulder. He carries her out of the alley and into his car.

"Don't worry Lara, I will get you home. I won't let Trinity take you." The man promised as he sets Lara in the back of his car, sitting her up and buckling her up. He takes the driver's seat and starts the car. He was contemplating on whether or not he should call the police on Trinity. _I'll worry about that later._

A critically injured 1-3, upon seeing the man drive off and discovering that his ally was unconscious, reaches for his radio and calls in Tango 1-1.

"Tango 1-1." He says, waiting for a response, but there is none. "Tango 1-1, are you there?" He feels her heart increase faster it felt like it was going to explode. "Mission failed, Lima-Charlie escaped with Unidentified Male." He says into his radio. "Come in, I need a hospital, I have a collapsed lung! Tango 1-1!"

"Tango 1-3, we hear you." Tango 1-1 finally answered. "I am rather disappointed in you that you somehow failed to get Lima target to the rendezvous. I am sending you a medic immediately." Tango 1-1's voice was barely hidden. "Not only am I upset, but Trinity is also upset. HE will not like this. You have failed us."

And just like that, Tango 1-3 passed out from the pain. Before he passed out, he managed to say, "Next time, I will make it easier for Trinity!"

* * *

 **I just want to let you guys know, this takes place in between the second and third game.**


	2. Chapter 2

Three Months Ago

Flying over the great country of Zimbabwe was an Embraer Legacy 600 jet. On board was at least ten people and every single one of them was a fully initiated member of Trinity. The leader of the group was a man named Jankovic, who was cunning as he was ruthless. He was a handsome man with curly black hair and 'delicate' hazel eyes. He was tall and had smooth skin. He sat in one of the very clean white seats while his teammates sat in the other seats. Two of his men, Ivan and Ivar assumed the role of the pilot and copilot respectively.

"Look alive gents. Once we hijack this plane, we will finally open that bottle of champagne." Jankovic tell his friends. All of the Trinity soldiers, including himself, wore the standard Trinity outfit: black jackets with boots and gloves, body armor and silver pants. At least two of the soldiers wore the trademark balaclava. One of the men-Bank-moved forward and towards the side door. Bank was the second-in-command of the group and he and Jankovic worked good as a team. Jankovic and Bank opened the side door and gazed outside. Because the plane was nonpressurized, being sucked out of the plane, was nothing to worry about at all. "Remember, we must recover that intel by any means necessary." Jankovic reminds not only Bank, but his entire team.

In the cockpit, Ivan was using his radio to call in the supreme commander. The person who runs Trinity itself. "Tango 0-0, we have visual on Oscar-Bravo, awaiting orders, over." Then he heard a voice. "Roger that sir. Frequency is secure, I repeat, frequency _is_ secure." The Trinity leader gives them the go-ahead to initiate the operation. "Roger that Tango 0-0, this Alpha-Hotel-Zulu signing off, over."

Jankovic had heard the radio conversation on his own radio and smiled. He turns back to one of his men and holds out his hand. "Slavik, hand me the spear gun."

The young soldier steps forward with a spear gun in his hand and thrusts it to Jankovic. Bank then asked for a spear gun and the female soldier of the group named Ciernik handed one to him.

Jankovic and Bank watched eagerly as a very light jet began to materialize from the clouds. Both men knew that this was their objective. Before the day started, the Trinity leader had intercepted a phone call between MI6 agents in England and MI5 agents in Zimbabwe. Apparently, MI5 had recovered some kind of evidence leading to a mysterious artifact that can grant immortality and Jankovic and his entire team were the first sent on the line to retrieve the information, which is on that very light jet.

As soon as the Trinity jet was close enough, Jankovic and Bank fired a spear each into the very light jet beside them. The claws bit into the plane life fangs just before Jankovic and Bank attached the ends of the ropes to metallic chains implanted in the floor.

"That went better than expected." Jankovic says to his second-in-command.

"I hear that boss." Bank then watches as the very light jet tries to take off but is unable to. _Those ropes sure are sturdy._

In the aisle, the Trinity soldiers looked eagerly out the window to see what was going on. A pair of twin soldiers named Novak and Kovak actually scooted to the open side door to get a closer look, but Jankovic and Bank told them to back off.

"Too many people standing close to the door." Jankovic begins. "We could fall out of this plane. We are forty-one thousand feet from the ground."

Out of sheer curiosity, Bank looked down at the ground. He felt a queasy feeling in his stomach, he did not expect to be _that_ high in the air.

"Tell the pilots." Jankovic orders to Novak. Novak hustles to the cockpit and shouts at the pilots.

"Initiate the electromagnetic pulse."

Ivan and Ivar nod and press a red button labeled 'Do Not Push'. A shockwave of energy is shot out of the plane and the very light jet loses altitude and falls toward the earth, but due to the massively strong spears that pierced it, it went suspended with the Embraer Legacy 600 above.

Satisfied, Jankovic and Bank close the side door and return to their seats, do does the twins. Putting on their gas masks, Jankovic, Bank, Ciernik, Novak and Kovak planned on rappelling into that plane and retrieve the information themselves. "Time for some fun." Jankovic tell his men. "Remember, it's like a video game. Only difference is our lives are really in danger."

The young soldier named Slavik pressed a button on the wall and a door began opening on the floor. Slavik and the other three soldiers buckled up and put on their oxygen masks. Things were going to get real dicey and it was not going to be fun. "Good luck." One of the soldiers shout.

"Thanks Zima, we may need it." Jankovic said as he hooked a rope to himself and jumped down the hole in the floor, followed by the four others. Wind had violently struck them but they were unfazed and unfrightened by it. The very light MI5 jet was within reach, but they had to act fast. The EMP charge that they shot at them would only last for three minutes and one minute and forty-five seconds have already passed.

Reaching for the door to the MI5 jet, Novak and Kovak use all their strength to rip it off and allowing Jankovic to crawl inside. At least three passengers were hanging on for dear life. Three MI5 agents and only one pilot. From what his boss told him, the highly sensitive information would be in a silver suitcase and would be handcuffed to a man. This just happened to be his luck because the first agent that flew towards him had a suitcase handcuffed to his wrist. Jankovic reaches for him and grabs him by the belt. He yanks him backwards and both men went flying out the very light jet. If it wasn't for the rope, then the two would have fallen to their deaths.

Up above in the plane, Slavik and the soldiers watched as their teammates performed some insane _Mission: Impossible_ moves. They even cheered for their comrades.

After being sucked out the plane, Jankovic held onto Suitcase Man by the wrist just as one of the MI5 agents inside the plane had been sucked out. Jankovic watched as the agent fell thousands of feet to his death. It was sight that satisfied him. Bank and Ciernik swing over and restrain Suitcase Man just as Novak and Kovak order for Slavik to hit the button to bring them back up.

As they ascended back into the plane, Slavik and Zima cut the ropes on the spear guns and threw them out the plane. Because the EMP was still activated, the very light MI5 jet fell forty-one thousand feet to the ground. Suitcase Man watched the plane fall and winced in horror. The plan that Jankovic had orchestrated, had resulted just as he had predicted.

Several minutes have passed and right now, the Suitcase Man was in the Trinity jet and being tortured by the two most sadistic members of the group, Ciernik and Kovak.

Zima was working on the combination with Bank while one of the soldiers radioed in on their supreme commander. "Tango 0-0, this is Tango 1-7, we have the suitcase, over."

Ciernik stabs the man in the gut with a knife and drags it across his stomach, spilling his guts, literally. "What is the combination?" She demands, but he remains tight lipped. "Son of a bitch." She got so furious, that she kicked open the side door and hung him out the window. They weren't flying over Zimbabwe, but over Mozambique. The ground was still forty-one thousand feet below them.

"I got it open." Zima says happily as he and Bank tear through mountain of papers that have been shoved inside. At the bottom, they found one document that was labeled as 'Crown' and they began reading it. Jankovic snatched the document away and read it himself. His blank expression turned into a large smile with wide eyes.

"Sir, what do you want us to do with this guy?" She asks but she gets no answer. Jankovic was too busy was reading the document. She then got the impression that Suitcase Man was no longer need, so she and Kovak literally kicked him out and to his death. The two close the door and return to their seats.

"Lady and gentlemen, what we have uncovered is something worth celebrating over." Jankovic announces. "Ivan, Ivar!" He shouts at the cockpit. "You know the usual, land us in the ocean."

This was standard Trinity protocol. Usually when an operation in the air has ended, then the Trinity soldiers would ditch the plane as a way of riding any evidence of Trinity. Novak, Kovak, Zima and 1-7 already pulled out a raft that was big enough for all ten people (plus the pilots) to fit in.

Several minutes have passed since they crashed their jet with intent in the middle of the ocean with Madagascar being not too far off shore. All ten soldiers were in the emergency raft and were drifting out to sea. Jankovic still held the document in hand, with a backpack in the other.

Sitting next to each other, Slavik and Ivar stared into the water with an uneasy feeling. Slavik was very concerned about the water which they were drifting off in. "Hey Ivar, did you by any chance, see that article about some shark spotted in this water?"

"You mean a Megalodon, of course I did." Ivar looked into the deep blue water, searching for any signs for predators. "Hey Jankovic, we should probably get out of here. There was a news article that said that a Megalodon was spotted in this ocean."

"You two dimwits worry too much." Novak says.

"I am so glad I brought some glasses with us." Jankovic says as he pulls out at least ten champagne glasses and handed one to each person. "Finding a file that proves that the legendary of Crown of Immortality existence is certainly something to celebrate about." He pulls out a large bottle of champagne with a spade in the center. He pours everyone a cup before pouring one for himself. "This is the Ace of Spades champagne. I have been saving it for two years. It cost me ten thousand dollars in cash." He raises his glass with a huge smile on his face. "To Trinity."

"To Trinity." The other announce before the clink. The champagne taste like paradise. It was so worth the ten thousand dollars in cash that he paid for.

"Now, this file says that someone named Ben Wheldon can help us with our search for the Crown. He and Lara Croft herself." Jankovic continues. "If we want to be immortal, we need these two to help find the crown for us. I know nothing about this Wheldon character but I do know that Lara is in London right now. What say we go pay her a visit?"

"I'm with you boss. If it means living forever." Zima says happily.

Ivar, Novak, Kovak and Slavik were getting dirty thoughts as to what they were going to do with Lara once they captured her. It was good news for them and bad news for her. That is the main reason why the four were smiling.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a photo of this Ben Wheldon, but we could probably use Croft to find him and then the two can help us find the biblical crown." The others nod in agreement but not Slavik nor Ivar. They were pointing at something in fear.

"Guys, what is it?" Ciernik asks.

"Megalodon." Slavik whispers. "MEGALODON!" He points at a shark fin swimming towards them. Ivar yells in horror and reaches for his gun. The others began using the paddles to get away.

"GO AWAY!" Slavik shouts in horror at the incoming dorsal fin. "GO AWAY!"

It was indeed a Megalodon that attacked them and they barely escaped with their lives, they were the lucky one. It was an experience that none of them was ever going to forget: Surviving a Megalodon attack.

* * *

 **Ben Wheldon**

 **Born: January 1, 1992 (24), London, England**

 **Hair: Brown**

 **Eye: Amber**

 **Height: Six-foot-two**

 **Weight: Two hundred**

 **Nationality: British**

 **Relatives: Unnamed mother and father**

 **Biography: Ben Wheldon was born in London, England. Both his parents were school teachers in archeology and Ben had picked up his parent's keen interest in archeology. He is self-taught in history and knows at least two dozen languages, ancient and modern and is a black belt in Taekwondo and Wushu and proficient in the Bo Staff and Sais. Ever since the death of his parents, he lived with his uncle and attended Oxford University at the age of fifteen. When he graduated with a Master's Degree, he continued his mother and father's work in searching for the Crown of Immortality. Aside from Lara Croft, he is number one on Trinity's hitlist.**


	3. Chapter 3

Present

Ben pressed a warm washcloth to Lara's forehead just as she woke up. "Why hello there Miss Croft." He says.

Lara sputtered as her vision returned to her. She felt as if a bucket of water was being poured onto her face. When her vision set into focus, she realized where she was: home, something she did not expect, not even at the very least. She was lying on her bed and who stood above her was a total stranger. She instantly sits up and asks who this mysterious man was.

"My name is Ben. Ben Wheldon. I believe you are Lara Croft."

"How do you know my name?" She demands. Ben reached into his back pocket and yanked out a wallet and handed it to her. She opens it to find her ID. It was her wallet. "What the hell were you doing with my wallet?"

"I used your wallet to find out where you lived. I promise you I stole no money, I swear." Ben explains. "You see, you were at a bar and this crazy bartender and some dancer comes carrying you out and through an alley. I knew something was up so I followed and it turns out that the people who drugged you were agents of Trinity."

Lara's eyes blinked rapidly upon hearing the name of her old enemies. She had no idea what to make of this guy. He could be one of the Trinity's assassins, like Auger Ramille was. "What did Trinity drug me with?"

Ben shrugged. "Some kind of non-depolarizing drug. A drug with a name I cannot pronounce." He then began asking questions like some kind of interrogator. "What were you doing in a bar, drinking yourself to death?"

Lara, although reluctant, had told him about her adventure in the Yucatan Peninsula, where she was almost sexually assaulted by Trinity soldiers and she was forced to shoot one of her guides. An image she could not shake out her brain. Ben had had the good grace of comforting her whenever she cried, as if he were an old friend. She also told him about Yamatai and Kitezh, leaving no detail at all out.

"It's all right Lara. What matters now is that you are here." Ben puts a hand on her shoulder and she makes no effort to pull it away. "I feel bad to tell you this, but I don't think either one of us can stay in London. Trinity is hunting you and considering that they know where you live, it would be better to relocate. Trinity knows nothing about me, but they will most likely come after me considering I hospitalized two of their presumably best agents."

Lara gets off her bed and walks to the nearest window with her hands in her jacket. "It's raining." If Trinity was going to put up another fight, she will most certainly give them a fight. "Listen Ben, I have dealt with Trinity more times than you know. They are as predictable as the ticks on a clock. They will most likely come here to my manor and abduct me and do whatever to me, and considering how good they are, they could be be here in less than thirty minutes." She turns to face him. "If we both want to evade Trinity, then I suggest we head to Paris. I have an apartment there, where we can lay low from the psychos."

Ben took a keen interest. Paris was the city of love and he was most certainly infatuated with the legendary Lara Croft. The thought of spending a romantic night with her made him excited just thinking about it.

"How do you know about Trinity?" She asks, wondering how this guy knew about an organization that was all but nonexistent to public.

He did not answer at all. He stares down at the floor before looking back at he. "My brother, used to be a mercenary working for Trinity. He worked with them for three years and when he was finally an initiated member, the last I heard of him was he was a casualty in an assassination that gone horribly wrong. It's not my brother's fault, it's Trinity. They killed my brother."

Lara felt great sympathy for him. She knew what it was like to a have a family member killed by Trinity. In her case, it was her father. "You okay Ben?" She then saw him reach for the bottle of water on her dresser.

"I'm alright." He then took a huge gulp of water.

If there was one thing that Lara was willing to admit, it was that she found Ben to be very attracting. "Do you have an occupation?"

Ben answered quickly. "I'm an archaeologist, like you. You see, I am actually looking for the Crown of Immortality."

"The Crown of Immortality, from Laurel wreath art? Why would you search for a nearly divine object like that?"

"My mother and father have been searching for the Crown of Immortality their entire lives. Me, I wanted to set out an make my own destiny, but there was a voice in my head telling to start with looking for the Crown of Immortality."

Lara took a keen interest in Ben all of a sudden. "What are you going to do with the Crown of Immortality once you find it."

Ben's mouth was left hanging open and Lara could see him moving his tongue endlessly. He didn't have an answer to that question and she knew it.

"The voices in my heading are talking to me." Ben says.

In that instant, she knew that was Ben was a schizophrenic. "What are the voices telling you?"

He began stuttering as if something grabbed his tongue. "You don't want to know."

"I don't want to know what the voices are saying or I don't want to know what you are going to do with the Crown of Immortality?"

"The first." He answered quickly. "I actually have an answer for your question, once I find the crown, then I will put it in a museum, have it be studied so we can learn of its origin. If you think I am in it for the powers of living forever, then you are wrong." He stepped closer. "Plus, if Trinity is on my tail, then they could discover my Crown of Immortality research."

"They are after you and one of them drugged me, I say we are both in some deep waters." She says. "We are both in Trinity's crosshairs."

"We might as well be in bed together with an ocean of zombies surrounding us in all direction." He emphasized on 'in bed together'.

"That's some analogy Ben." When he was within reach, she felt a sudden urge to reach out and caress his smooth skin. Her urge was so powerful, she actually had to hold her own hand. But it appeared as if Ben had gotten the impression because he looked down and saw her containing her hand.

He puts a hand on her shoulder and she feels a surge of energy course through her. Letting herself go, she reaches up and caress him lovingly.

"We just met and already you can't keep your hands to yourself Miss Croft."

"I was told to trust my instincts and my instincts are telling me that you are no threat." She answers. "By the way, what were the voices telling you?"

Ben did not hesitate to answer. "They are telling me to make love to you."

Lara chuckled uncontrollably at this point. "Sounds good. By the way, I just wanted to thank you, for saving me for Trinity." She said sincerely.

"Well, it was the least I could do, I could have let you go, then I realized, what kind of people Trinity are. Since we are in the same boat, might as well help you." Ben leaned.

Lara leaned.

They both kissed. The other's lips tasted like cherry, but for Lara's case, cherry and gin. But Ben liked Gin, but not as much as vodka.

"I will make love to you if you answer this question." Ben said. "What was the name of the ancient city from the Bronze age that was completely destroyed by the eruption of Thera? And where is it located?"

"Technically, that's two questions, but alright. The name of the place is called Akrotiri and it is located in Santorini. I have been there before. Evidence found suggests that humans could have inhabited the city at least fifth millennium BC. I know my archaeology, I went to school. Now you answer a question."

Ben eagerly participated. "Shoot away."

"What kind of ancient language does not use vowels?"

"That's it? I can't believe it, the Ogham alphabet, they never use vowels. I can not believe that question. Then again, I can't believe your beauty."

Lara buried her face into Ben's chest. She was laughing, never before has she felt such love before.

"You still want me, even after I told you that I am hearing voices in my head?" Ben asked, making sure that her love for him was genuine.

"Yes." She answers, no sound of regret in her voice.

Neither Ben nor Lara could believe what was happening right now. They had just spent the last five minutes talking to each other and now their friendship turns into love, that fast?

 _I must be one lucky guy to end up with Lara Croft. Damn, life is good._

"How about this, since we are going to my apartment in Paris, why don't we save this craving love for when we get there?"

Ben was disappointed, only for a second. "Well, I guess we should at least learn more about each other before things do get deep. How about we start this off by going on a date?"

"Does this date involve looking for the Crown of Immortality?" Lara asked, wrapping her hands around his neck tightly.

"Well, I guess it can be, and when/if we do find the Crown of Immortality, like I said, we could put it in a museum." He suggests.

"Sounds good." Lara says, diving in for another kiss. "But, in our search for the crown, where do we start?"

Ben sighed longingly. "How about we save that research for when we get to Paris? Cause I am actually getting a feeling that we are being stalked right now. By Trinity. And I assume since you have good, pretty good instincts, since you fell for me, then I assume you are also getting that tingling feeling in the back of your skull."

Ben was right, she felt as if something was trying to drill into the back of her skull. In all of her adventures, she knew to always trust her instincts, at least that is what one of her currently deceased friends told her.

"You're right." She looked out the window. Even though she saw nothing but rain outside, she could sense something of a sniper's scope being aimed at her back. "Pack up, we gotta go."

Lara let go of Ben and walked over to her dresser and started packing clothes. "I'll call Glenn, he's my travel agent for going off the grid."

"Good for us." Ben said sarcastically. "We do need to go off the grid. If we're lucky, then Trinity's got as much intelligence as a man who's had a disease for seven years and isolated from the world since 1959."

"I love your analogies Ben Wheldon."

* * *

 **Jankovic Jurisa**

 **Born: February 5, 1971 (45), Novosibirsk, Siberia**

 **Alias: Tango 1-1**

 **Hair: Black**

 **Eye: Hazel**

 **Height: Six-foot-three**

 **Weight: One-eighty**

 **Nationality: Siberian**

 **Relatives: Dalbar Jurisa (Father), Duon Jurisa (Mother)**

 **Biography: Jankovic was raised by very abusive, yet very generous parents. Even though his parents beat him on a regular basis, they rewarded him with all kinds of bribes and even took him to a prep school. The condition they suffered from was bipolar. In all the years growing up, Jankovic had learned that violence is a tortuous, but a helpful tool. After serving twelve years in the Spetsnaz, he slowly turned into a psychopath due to his violent childhood and the killing that surrounded him on a daily basis. The leader of Trinity saw Jankovic as a promise for Trinity's future. After serving seven years as a mercenary for Trinity, he finally became an initiated member of Trinity and is one of the best commanders in the organization. He made someone like Ana and even Konstantin envy because of the special treatment he received from the Trinity leader himself.**


	4. Chapter 4

Twenty Eight Minutes Later (No, not _Twenty Eight Days/Weeks Later_ )

"I have no idea what to make of this man." Jankovic says as he searches through Lara's drawers. He slams them shut out of frustration. There was no sign of Lara Croft in the manor. He and Bank just broke in through the main window while the others found their own ways into the manor. "This Ben Wheldon comes in and beats up Kovak and Slavik and he carries Lara to safety? He must be a man of nobility. Remember gents, we need this man alive. Orders still stand."

All of them were willing to follow any orders given to them, but not one of them.

"The hell with orders!" Novak shouts. "This Ben guy hospitalized my brother! I am going to put my boot on his throat and choke the life out of him! I will make sure he dies a slow and very painful death!"

"Don't, if that were to happen then we will never find the Crown of Immortality." 1-7 reasons. "He is an important man in our research."

 **(If you are wondering what 1-7 real names is, I will never reveal it, no matter what. But what I can confirm is he is Siberian and he is at the age of twenty-nine. He is six feet tall with dark brown hair and green eyes and his skin is really pale. Distinguishing trait is a heavily tattooed right arm of cross.)**

"That means no killing." Zima said as he searched the closets for any clues.

"What if Ben took her to his place? We could search there." Bank suggests, standing at the front door to Lara's room. "Of course, only if we knew his home address."

Ciernik, Ivan and Ivar were checking underneath the beds, well Ciernik and Ivan were. Ivar was actually checking inside Lara's drawers. Not for any evidence though. And then Ciernik slapped him hard against the head, knocking some sense into him.

"Keep searching, maybe something will lead them right to us." Jankovic ordered. After he barked his order, he sat down on the bed and put his elbows on his knees and his hands under his jaw. _Don't worry, we will find them, eventually._ Now he was starting to regret opening that bottle back in Africa. He was lucky he wasn't as drunk as those people on that American comedy, _The Hangover,_ otherwise he would've been eaten by that Megalodon.

"Bank, come check this out." 1-7 calls from the closet. "Check out this chick." Bank annoyingly obeyed and walked from the door and over to the closet. 1-7 was standing in the middle of the closet with a pile of clothes surrounding him and in his hand was a book with a black cover. 1-7 opens the book and reveals it to be a photobook album.

One of the pages 1-7 turned to had a little Lara Croft on the swing set and being pushed by her father. "She's one sexy chick."

Bank looked at 1-7 in disgust. "What the hell is wrong with you? What the hell is wrong with you you creepy pervert? Why are you calling a seven-year-old Lara 'sexy' you creepy pedophile?"

In a way, Bank was being a hypocrite. While 1-7 was a pedophile, Bank was actually a hebephile. "Turn to one where she's fourteen." He orders, his hebephile side emerging.

"And you're giving me bear for having an unusual attraction to children." 1-7 points out. "When we find Lara, I am having fun with her first. You can go last."

"Nah, that should be Novak. He is a man who likes his coffee before dessert." He laughs like a maniac. "I'm am fine with sexually assaulting her, but I still dislike how you are a pedophile."

"We all got problems man."

Jankovic had had enough and decided to call in the big boss of Trinity. He takes out his satellite phone and dials an encrypted number. "Sir, we have lost Lima-Charlie and Beta-Whiskey. Requesting advice, over."

The Trinity leader spoke back. "Tango 1-1, 0-0 here, I have already found intel on Beta target. It turns out that Beta had a brother who worked for us, under the codename of Juliet-Oscar-Hotel-November (JOHN). He was a casualty in the failed assassination of a politician in Latvia some time ago."

"Oh, okay." Jankovic was at a loss of words. "You think you can track Lima-Charlie via the GPS tracker that 1-3 implanted in Lima's drink?"

"Already done it. Both Lima and Beta are on a plane at the London international airport and my techs are telling me that they are taking off for Paris. If you hurry, you can catch up with them. Also, I want Lara captured alive for a new reason" He told Jankovic his new reason for wanting Lara alive.

"Thanks Boss. I promise you that Trinity will win this fight. If I fail, may you do whatever you want to me." He hangs up and hands the phone to Zima. He puts his hand back to his side and calls all his men forward. "Ladies and gents, we have a destination."

"Where?" Bank asked. Jankovic told him about Ben's brother and Paris. "Awesome, so we are going to the city of love."

"Not quite." Jankovic said softly like he was talking to a foreigner. "If Lara and Ben decide to double back, we need someone to stay here. Me, Zima, Slavik, Kovak and Ivan are going to Paris. I already called the doctors at the hospital, they said that both Slavik and Novak are in perfect health, despite what happened."

Bank shook his head. "If you, Zima, Slavik, Kovak and Ivan are going to Paris, then what of the rest of us?"

"The five of you will stay here. Insurance. Plus, I think it's win-win. If Lara and Ben are in Paris, Kovak will get revenge on Ben and if Lara and Ben are still here, then Novak will get revenge for what happened to his brother. See, everybody wins."

"But we have orders to bring Lara and Ben back alive."

Jankovic smiles. "We are ordered to bring Lara in for a new reason actually. Ben, our plans for him still stand."

* * *

Paris, France (We are about to meet a returning character from _Rise_ _of_ the _Tomb_ _Raider_ )

A woman with dark hair and red lips stood at the site of the Louvre. She wore a green cargo jacket, long baggy jeans and her distinguishing trait was her hat. It looked like something a pilot would wear. She was aware people were looking at her, but ever since she left Siberia, she has built up even more confidence than before and she was ready to face whatever dangers awaited her in the outside world.

She was not here to sightsee, that was more of a front. She was here because she was going to meet an old friend, someone who saved her life in Siberia from Trinity. Lara told her if she wanted to visit, then to come to her apartment in Paris. When Lara handed her her apartment address, she felt like a starstruck fan.

That was the good news. The bad news was she was not here to visit Lara to catch up, she was here to warn her of their old enemies. Trinity was back and they were once again up to no good.

When she first left Siberia and took shelter in a hotel in Kazakhstan, she was ambushed and nearly abducted by two goons (ironically, it was 1-2 and 1-3). She escaped and had later found out of their actual identity. Seven weeks later, she made it to Paris and came to warn Lara of their old enemies.

"Whatever punches these guys are going to throw at me, I will throw an even harder punch right back at them." She whispers to herself.

* * *

Several hours later, Paris

Lara and Ben stepped out their private jet and onto the runway. Ben held a blue bag in his hands with clothes from his apartment while Lara held a suitcase with her clothes in her bag.

"Welcome to the city of love Miss Croft." Ben says like a little boy talking to his crush. He held his hands out as if he were an eagle.

Lara actually had a thing for eagles. Nothing creepy of course. When she was a little girl-about six, her father took her on a trip to Delphi to look for evidence of the Oracle of Pythia. When they were in one of the temples, her father had been writing symbols in his journal and Lara was standing too close to one of the edges. Although she had been told to stay away, she had gotten ornery and fell into the bottomless abyss. A friend named Conrad Roth grabbed her just as she fell, saving her life.

The odd thing was Lara did not believe it was Roth who saved her, even to this day. When she was about to fall into the abyss, from her point of view, she saw an eagle flying below her. She didn't care what her father or Roth said, she knows it was an eagle. She knows what she saw and she refuses to back down from her belief.

 _If that eagle had not been there, I would have never lived to see my father._

"Did I say something Lara?" Ben asked, dropping his hands to his side as soon as he saw her stare at the ground as if she were a hungry patient and Ben had food at his feet.

"No, I just had a flashback. It was eighteen years ago, I was at Delphi with my father." She explained what happened to her with the eagle. "True story and I don't care if you don't believe me."

"Who says I didn't? 'Course I believe you. Let me carry your bags for you, I am a chivalrous and very handsome man."

"Thank you. You know, chivalry is dead they say. It's not, you just have to ask for it."

Ben snickered, thinking of something inappropriate. "Yeah, ask for it, don't you mean 'up for it?' "

"Okay you horny wazzock." Lara shoved her suitcase into his chest. He let out a small grunt and chuckled some more.

"The voices in my head are telling me some hilarious things."

"Tell them to tell you to keep your little pal in your pants."

"I will, don't worry."

* * *

The apartment that Lara led Ben to was uninhabited and untouched for a couple years. All the furniture in the room was colored red and the walls were painted eggshell white. The light brown carpet had a pattern of dark brown squares that spread from the front and all the way to the back.

"Where's the bed?" Ben asked as he dropped the luggage near the rose red couch. "I am so ready for a kip, but I am willing to get some exercise before going to rest."

Lara chuckled, but wanted to continue to torture him. "In a few minutes my mate. A few minutes."

"Wait a second, you called me a mate? Are you thinking of eating me, like how a black widow eats her mate?"

"Sounds whack." She responds. She closes the door behind her and locks it tightly. "Let me get ready and then we can have our fun."

Ben felt his heart hammer against his chest. He could not believe what was happening to him right now. _Life is pretty goddamn good and I loooooooovvvvvvveeeee it._ He felt like a wolf howling in triumph. Of course he will be doing plenty of howling when he is 'mating' with Lara.

* * *

 **All ten villains are some kind of paraphilia. This is what each one is.**

 **Jankovic is a erotophonophilia**

 **Bank is a hebephile**

 **Zima is a anthropophagy**

 **Ciernik is a ephebophilia**

 **1-7 is a pedophile**

 **Novak is a autassassinophilia**

 **Kovak is a infantophilia**

 **Slavik is a biastophilia**

 **Ivan is a gerontophilia**

 **Ivar is a necrophilia**

 **You guys probably have a lot of questions. Out of all the villains, who the most twisted and most creepy one? Is Trinity going to get some kind of victory out of this battle? Who is that woman at the Louvre? Are Lara and Ben really in for a surprise in Paris? What new reason is Lara wanted by Trinity for?**

* * *

 **Kovak**

 **Born: February 19, 1979 (37), Zagreb, Croatia**

 **Alias: Tango 1-3**

 **Hair: Blond**

 **Eye: Blue**

 **Height: Five-ten  
Weight: One-ninety**

 **Nationality: Croatian**

 **Relatives: Novak (Brother), Greg (Uncle (From the Ten Thousand Immortals novel))**

 **Biography: Novak and Kovak were born and raised in Zagreb and grew up in the streets after their parents passed away from lung cancer and they lost all their money. The two brothers spent the next twenty years living in the brutal streets and eventually started their own gang and caused havoc around Croatia. On their twenty-third birthdays, they finally captured the attention of Trinity, who immediately recruited them. They served four years as hired guns for Trinity and eventually warmed their way up to the ranks and finally became initiated Trinity members. During his years of service, he spent several years studying medicine at the UCL. It was actually done as a way to stalk Lara. He was one of the soldiers who stalked her on her Golden Fleece adventure, along with another Trinity soldier name Greg and a big shot Trinity commander named Kennard Montez.**


	5. Chapter 5

**The first part of this chapter is rated M. You have been warned.**

Lara led Ben to the bedroom and that is when things got real physical. Lara turned off the light in the room and the only light in the room was the moonlight coming in from the window. What a perfect night in Paris. They didn't have to worry, the pedestrians were twenty stories below; they were on the top floor. Ben was speechless as Lara removed her leather black jacket, blue shirt and bra. She was so beautiful, more so than any other girl he had been with in his life. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as if he had PTSD, a feeling that he truly loved (Not PTSD, the shaky hand). Using what strength he still has in his shaking fingers, he grabs the hem of his white shirt and yanks it over his head.

"There is no one I would rather make love to Ben Wheldon."

"Same for me Lara Croft."

He dives in to kiss her on the lips. His need for her overpowered him and he began working on removing the rest her clothes. He grabs her belt and begins unbuckling. She did the same thing in return. Ben was not a virgin and he was not shy. He heard murmuring through...from inside his head. _Not now voices inside my head. Screw yourselves if that's what you want._ He basically just told them to shut the hell up.

Both Lara and Ben kicked off their shoes and socks whilst still kissing each other. Lara grabs and pulls Ben's jeans down. He kicks them off and begins yanking Lara's jeans. The only thing that's keeping them from being completely naked was that fact that they were still wearing their underwear.

Lara tugged Ben's boxer briefs down and he tugged her panties down. Now there was nothing left separating them from each other.

Ben, who could no longer hold back, gently set Lara on the bed, climbed on top of her and he sank himself into her. She emits a soft moan, which really turns him on. He began backing into and out her slowly and eventually fast, unable to stop, even if he wanted to. Why would he want to stop now, what kind of man does that?

Ben felt the inside of his mouth water as he realized that she was moaning with every thrust.

Lara felt that any problems they had in the past was now non-existent at this point. _I forgot who Conrad Roth was, or who Richard Croft is,_ she thinks to herself. _Ben Wheldon, you feel so good._

She closed her eyes and let herself succumb to Ben, doing nothing but moaning in a way that every perverted man wanted to hear. If she were being watched by a bunch of weirdos, then let them watch. She wanted to savor this special moment with Ben.

All of a sudden, Ben felt something coiling up from inside of him. Then he felt something constrict him. That's when he realized that Lara….climaxed.

That was his cue to finish up, but not too quickly.

He thrusted even faster and harder into her, not stopping at all. His breathing was like a hammer beating down on a nail. His breathing had began quickening and he felt himself getting ready to explode. He thrusts as deep as he could within her and he moaned loudly as he climaxed.

Done and exhausted, Ben collapses beside her, covering himself up with the blankets and beginning to drift off to sleep.

Never before was Lara Croft going to forget her last night liaison with Ben Wheldon. She grabs the blankets and covers herself. She stares at the sleeping Ben Wheldon one more time before she falls asleep herself. _The Crown of Immortality can wait 'till tomorrow._

* * *

In the middle of night, Jankovic, Zima, Ivan, and a recovered, but still hurt Slavik and Kovak walked down the street leading to Lara' apartment. Although they were informed of Lima-Charlie's current location, they had no idea which room she would be in because the apartment was twenty floors.

 _Damn it!_ Jankovic felt rage flush through him and when no one was looking, he punched the nearest soldier in the jaw hard, knocking him out cold (Who he punched is left up to your interpretation). As Jankovic reeled his fist back, he saw something. There was a woman walking into the apartment. He knew she could have been anybody, but his senses were telling him otherwise.

"I've seen her." Kovak says, which is all Jankovic needs to hear to confirm his suspicion. "She was in Siberia during our search for the Divine Source."

"Me and Kovak both participated in that operation and we both saw that woman. We forgot her name though." Slavik added, locking his lips. "Maybe we should follow her and see if she leads us to Lara."

"Sounds like a plan Slav." Zima told. "Let's go boss." He and others began walking towards the apartment, but not Jankovic.

Jankovic held up a hand. "No, we need to be patient. If she spots us, then we are in some deep waters. Slavik, Kovak, Ivan, stay outside. Me and Zima are going inside to investigate."

"You want us to stay here just in case Lara walks out with that woman?" Kovak asks. "And Ben?" He growled.

"Yes Kovak. Exactly. Keep your earpiece turned on and only use it when necessary. Zima, let's go follow our culprit."

"Don't you mean 'cul-prick'?" He laughed like a maniac who just killed a man.

* * *

That same woman from Siberia watched, from a taxi from a distance, a man punch another man in the jaw hard. She knew it was Trinity, just from the way they stood and interacted with each other. After surviving the raid by Trinity, she can always tell civilian from Trinity like the back of her hand. "Der'mo." She utters. "Trinity. Got to get to Lara quickly."

The driver drops her a block from the apartment and she walks inside, trying to avoid the agents as much as possible. She was a prey trying to slip past a hungry lion basically. When she walked through the glass doors, she cursed as soon as she saw the oldest one of the group stare at her for a brief, but definite second. There was no denying that he saw her and knew she was connected to Lara Croft somehow.

"Shit, gotta lead them away from Lara." She told herself. "Pretend she's on the fourth floor and then sneak out through a window and climb to the top." She knew how to climb without safety equipment, her father taught her. (Her climbing skills were somewhere around, but not an exact match to Nathan Drake's.)

"Hi there." The bellhop said in French. Luckily, the woman knew her French. "Checking in or out?"

"Checking in." She lied, using her quick-wits, her French being perfect, almost. She could not completely mask her Russian accent though. "My name is Nina Caron, I am just checking in for the night."

The bellhop typed something in the computer and 'Nina' looked over her shoulder. Two of the Trinity agents were walking through the glass doors. She twisted her head back and made sure her hat concealed any of her features, making it difficult for them to read and study her.

She felt a tingle run down her spine when the two stood directly behind her. She quickly paid the bellhop in French currency and he handed her her rooms keys. "Your room is four-twenty-one. We hope you have a good night Miss Caron."

"Thank you." She rushed off to the elevators and pressed the fourth floor button. She wastes no time to get into the elevators. The doors closed just as the two agents rushed her.

* * *

Jankovic slammed his fists on the elevator door and made a run for the stairs, Zima following. Due to both their background in the military, they could run like the wind. In high school, Jankovic was the fastest kid on track team and the most athletic all four years. Zima was a slightly different story, but he was still fast. (***)

* * *

"Okay, just get to the top floor... and make a run for it. How hard...can that be? I remember Lara's room number." She told herself. "Stay calm, don't panic. You got this 'Nina Caron'."

Then the elevator door opened and there stood the two agents with the biggest grins on their faces. The elevator stopped on the sixth floor and there they were. _How the hell did they get up here so fast. They must have made a run for the stairs. If that's the case, there is no way I can outrun these guys then._

The two stepped into the elevator and the one with the curly black hair looked to see what button 'Nina' pressed and saw it was the fourth floor, then the eleventh foor. He grins and stands right beside 'Nina' as the elevator doors closes and the start ascending.

The bald one exhaled deeply as he reached for something at his waist. 'Nina' already noticed and was about to scream, hoping it would catch someone's attention. _Wait a second, I'm in the elevator, no one can hear me. Goddamnit._

Curly Haired looks at her with a glint in his eye. Bald sneers and begins to wrap his arm around her waist. 'Nina's slaps Bald's hand away, but this had little effect. She thought she was toast, until the elevator doors opened. Four people from the eleventh floor stepped in. 'Nina' wasted no time and raced out the elevator. Curly Haired gave chase, saying 'excuse me' in French. Bald was going to go after her, but more people began crowding the elevator from a janitor, to a chef, and of course to a goddamn security guard. The doors closed before he could even get out and by his calculations, he was trapped by at least nine people and two security guards and one of them looked to be massively strong. He wanted to say 'excuse me' in French, but French was like an alien language to him.

* * *

'Nina' runs as fast as she could, making sure not to bump into anyone. Curly Haired used his running skills to chase and catch up to her. He growled as he was about to close in on his target. _The lion catches the monkey._ As soon as he abducted 'Nina', he would torture her for the current location of Lara Croft and Ben Wheldon. Honestly, he was saving her from being raped by Zima, Kovak, Ivan, and Slavik. Especially Slavik since he is the rapist of the group.

 _When I capture Lara, I am not letting Slavik go anywhere near her and if he does, I am going to put a knife in his throat._

'Nina' made a hard right into a hallway and kept on running. Curly Haired was getting closer and closing in on her. She had to do something if she wanted to lose this guy. She was already getting tired and her legs were giving away. As soon as she cut another corner, she almost collided with a garbage can, but she pushed it down, spilling its contents. As soon as Curly Haired turned the corner, he tripped over the garbage can and landed hard on his belly.

'Nina' decided not to use the elevators this time, but to find the nearest window and climb out. She would most certainly lose him that way.

* * *

Slavik, Kovak and Ivan stood outside the apartment, hiding behind an alley, waiting patiently for the woman to come out. Slavik took charge and ordered for the three to be ready to make a break for it. "Ivan, go around the back and you radio us if she comes out."

"Got it." Ivan says before he casually walks around the apartment.

"Kovak, you stay here while I go inside and wait for her." He ordered. "I know the boss told me to stay here, but we would be doing him a favor in case she doubles back. I could tackle her and then we can torture her and have some fun with her."

Kovak chuckled and snarled like a hungry wolf. "I got to say, that woman looks even more beautiful than when we saw her at the Remnant village."

* * *

Jankovic didn't just land on his stomach, he hit his head against a water fountain. He was unconscious in an instant. He moaned in pain in his sleep. If Zima was with him, then he would have continued to chase this 'Nina' but he was on another floor and had no knowledge of the route that 'Nina' and Jankovic took.

* * *

As soon as 'Nina' no longer saw Curly Haired in her sight, she sprinted to the end of a hallway and used all her strength to open up a window and climb out. The ground was several floors below her and man, she was not scared of heights. She has flowing in a helicopter before and she was a good climber.

"You got this. You got this. You got this." She says dozens of times before she climbs out. "Wait a second, why can't I take the elevator?" _No thank you, that other guy might be in one of them and I do not want to lead them to Lara directly nor indirectly._

She made the mistake of looking at the ground one hundred and thirty feet below her. _Oh man, I am really swimming with the sharks now._

* * *

 **Zima Horvath**

 **Born: 1984 (32), Slovakia**

 **Alias: Tango 1-4**

 **Hair: Bald**

 **Eye: Gray**

 **Height: Six feet**

 **Weight: Two hundred**

 **Nationality: Slovak  
Relatives: None known**

 **Biography: Zima Horvath grew with a past that very few people know. Only Jankovic knows his full origin. All that can be confirmed about him is that he once served as border patrol soldier and went rogue after killing a civilian after mistaking him for a terrorist. He then began to work as a mercenary for hire and he eventually crossed paths with Trinity. He spent five years working for Trinity before he became an initiated member.**


	6. Chapter 6

**We are going to see who this returning female character is. Don't forget to review. AN: I love archaeology, which is why I like writing treasure hunting stories.**

* * *

Now it was dawn and Lara was awake before Ben. Instead of wearing her blue shirt and khaki pants, she was wearing her panties and Ben's white shirt. It was few sizes too big for her, but she did not care. She went to the kitchen and fixed herself some coffee. Afterwards, she turned on the TV and switched to the news. It was all in French though, she had no knowledge of what they were saying.

"Is there anything on that is dubbed English?" She began flipping through several channels, all dubbed in French. Sure Lara was fluent in dozens of languages, but her French was unbearably rusty. She could only say a dozen words and she regretted not studying it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can translate what they are saying for you." A voice said beside Lara. Ben was dressed in his jeans and not wearing a shirt, because Lara was wearing his shirt.

"That would be much appreciated Ben." Lara answered, looking at his bare chest. "You know, we got to talk about the Crown of Immortality at some point, if we want to find it."

Ben grinned like a giddy schoolboy. "Sure thing, I believe my research is in my luggage next to the couch. Can you be a dear and get it for me?" He asks politely. She quickly handed him a document and he began reading what was written down.

"Taken from a tablet discovered in Antalya, which is in Turkey." He tells before he reads a different language on the paper.

 _The Crown of Immortality, as Moses has dubbed it, is a precious crown with powers beyond anyone's imaginable dream. I, Aaron, put the Crown of Immortality on my head and I felt a kind of energy that is nigh uncomparable. I felt as if nothing can harm me, and I felt like I could live forever. I felt like I was God myself. Me and Moses both wore the crown and we used it to help other people. We were told by Jehovah himself that anyone who wears the crown is granted everlasting life, but something happened. After Moses struck a rock with a staff and said that he made it instead of He, Moses lost his immorality and faced the_ _Wrath_ _of God himself. Both of us lost our immorality and we began to decay and deteriorate as we got old. Now anyone who wears the crown is cursed with unspeakable evils. To protect it from the world, I hid it inside the ark of the covenant along with my rod and the second set of the ten rules. We hid it away forever before raiders came and took the ark and the crown itself. Me and my brother pursued and we followed the thieves to a place that God would later call Catalhoyuk. The Crown has been hidden in the temple just at the center of the site. Me and Moses climbed down the bottomless abyss and we found the crown hidden at the very bottom. We tempted to take it, but we decided it was best it stay there. We locked it in a unbreakable safe that can only be unlocked by God himself. To people who want the crown, the combination to the lock is the name of God and the throne of God._

"Wow, so Aaron and Moses discovered the Crown of Immortality and they became immortal." Lara said, impressed. "That place that Aaron mentioned, Catalhoyuk, that's in Turkey, Konya Province."

Ben grinned, happy and excited at the same time.

"How do we know it's real, someone could have written it as a fake?"

Ben, having a bullet in the chamber, walked towards her and sat down on the couch. "Look at this script. This is not Hebrew, this is a very ancient language, Sumerian. A language no has written in the last two million years. A language that has not been disturbed for the last two million years. Very few people actually read it, one in four billion can actually write it. And Aaron is that one in four billion." He hands her the document. "Read it yourself, if you can read Sumerian."

A knock on the door.

Ben quickly put on his flannel and walked up to the door. Before he opened it, Lara put on her khaki pants.

"Hello…" A raspy voice said. Ben was staring into the face of a woman who was exhausted, thirsty and wounded. Blood was seeping through her fingers from her abdomen. "I...need…water...please…"

"Oh my god." Ben catches her just as she falls. He looked at the ground and saw a trail of blood coming in from the hallway. _I'll clean that up later, don't want the police to get the wrong idea._ He brings her in and closes the door. He lays her flat on her back on the carpet of the floor and uses his flannel to cover up the wound. "Stay here, I'll get the first aid."

Lara finished putting on her pants and stood straight up to see what was happening. A woman was lying on the floor and bleeding out. She runs up to her side and puts pressure on her wound. Ben's flannel was painted a deep red color from the blood.

"Hey Lara...long time...no...see." The woman says slowly, her throat as dry as a desert.

Lara could not believe her eyes. The second she saw the woman's face, she knew who she was. They served together on at least two occasions. "Nadia?"

"Me again…" She tries to lighten the mood by forcing herself to smile. "You look nice...haven't seen you since...Siberia."

"What the hell are you doing here Nadia?" She does not take any pressure off her wound, nor does she break eye contact with her friend.

Ben rushed back to Nadia's side with a first aid kit in hand. He opens it up and takes out a few bandages, a cloth, and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol. He pours some alcohol into the cloth and orders for Lara to lift the flannel. "This is going to sting a lot whatever your name is, so I want you to brace yourself." Nadia nodded, understanding every single word that he said. "Three...two...one." He presses the cloth to her bare belly as soon as the flannel is lifted and she winces in agony. She bites down on her lips to prevent any screaming. She felt as if someone was pouring acid onto her bloody wound. He knew he was hurting her, but he also knew what kind of wound she had. She was cut by something that had some kind of bacteria. If he didn't treat the wound, she would get an infection and die a slow and painful death like that guy Georgy on _I Spit on Your Grave 2._ ( **Sorry** **if** **I** **spoiled** **that** )

* * *

Several minutes later, Nadia was lying on the couch after passing out from the pain. Ben had done an excellent job patching her up. He cleaned up the wound as if it was nothing.

"So, who is this woman? I heard you call her something so you must know her." Ben spoke.

"This woman is Nadia, a friend and a somewhat annoying little bug." Lara told. "Remember how I told you of my Kitezh adventure, how I saved someone from being locked up in a locker? Nadia is that woman. I actually saved her, her grandmother and grandfather. Then she and me and another worked together to stop a disease from a nearby Soviet facility from spreading. That was a year ago of course. Been a while since I've seen her."

"Oh, so she's no threat. I am still on high alert, since the bar. But I trust you, even though I've only known you for like a day."

"I trust you as well. As soon as Nadia wakes up, then we ask her what is going on with her." Lara sighed before going to the chair and watching the sleeping Nadia.

* * *

Flashback

As soon as 'Nina' was on the window to the twentieth floor, the sun had began rising and she smashed the window. _As soon as I am out the woods, I'll pay for the window._ Unfortunately, as she climbed through, she had been uncaring and she cut her stomach on one of the sharp pieces of glasses.

The pain shot through her instantly. She has been stabbed before, but not like this. The glass went uncleaned for a long time, so basically she was cut by a knife that was tainted with the infected blood of _Cujo_.

"Oh god, that burns a lot." She falls to her shoulder, crushing glass beneath her weight. She felt as if someone had inserted a hook into her stomach and was pulling with all their strength to rip her flesh.

'Nina' tells herself to get up and to walk towards Lara's apartment.

* * *

Lara went into the bathroom and started throwing up in the toilet. She thought maybe she ate too much, until she felt something lumpy eject from her throat. The worm that 1-3 implanted in Lara's Gin. She also speculated that since they did not use protection, she could be pregnant, although if that were the case, it would be too early to tell anyways.

Outside, Ben was watching Nadia closely as she woke up. Like Lara, she asked who Ben was and Ben began questioning her like an interrogator. "How did you wound yourself?"

She explained how she was cut by glass.

"You know glass like that goes uncleaned for weeks? You are lucky to even be alive. All those toxic chemicals in your body and whatnot."

"But you saved me. Thank you so much." Nadia said with a bright smile. "So...has Lara told you about me? I mean...she probably did...we been on some...cool adventures before...what's your story. I'm sure you have an awesome story."

Lara found Nadia to be annoying, Ben found her to be amusing. "I'm an archaeologists myself, so you know. I've had my share of adventures. And I've had an encounter with Trinity before. I beat up two of them last night."

"Cool...I bet you really kicked their...ass."

"You're so cute Nadia I just want to put you in my pocket." He chuckles. "So, what've you been up to since Kitezh?"

"I wanted to set out for my own destiny and I...left my people at the remnant village and I moved to Kazakhstan for a brief time. That is when I...came upon two more Trinity...assholes."

"I know you're serious, but I find you to be quite amusing. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all...I'm used to be amusing. My mother told me that it's my way of coping with being...nervous."

"So anyways, you were attacked by two Trinity assholes and then what?"

"I came here to warn Lara of Trinity not only hunting me, but they are also hunting her and since you are with her, you as...well. I was chased by...two thugs in this hotel."

Ben's eyes widened. "Wait, there are agents here in Paris?" He shook his head in disbelief. "How did they find us?" Then he remembered something. That bartender must have implanted something in Lara's drink to not only put her to sleep, but to track her. That is why Lara is throwing up, she puking out the GPS tracker.

"I was chased by a curly haired one and a...bald one. But...there are more. There's at least five of them. I saw them outside the hotel some time before I got here." She told him about the chase and how she got away. "And that's when I got cut by the glass."

"Oh no, we gotta get out of here." Ben stands up. "As soon as Lara is done throwing up, then we shall be leaving."

"Where to?" Nadia asked, standing up to her full height.

"We are going to Turkey. We're looking for the Crown of Immortality."

Nadia's eyes widened upon hearing of the mythical object. "Ah, Lara is once again looking for another object that grants...everlasting life. Why does it have to be immorality, why not riches in gold and...jewels?"

"Don't ask me why. Just cause. In the words of _Forrest_ _Gump_ , 'we all do things for no particular reason at all'. Just like how I love the great country of Germany, but I have no reason why."

Lara came out of the loo after flushing the toilet. She put a hand on her head and gazed at both Ben and Naida. "What are you two up to?"

"Hey Lara...how you...feeling?"

"Pretty good, now that I am empty."

"That's what she said." Ben joked.

Nadia looked at Ben with an odd look. She was not exactly let in on the details of their relationship. She thought they were probably friends or at the very least, relatives. But now she was getting a feeling that they had a deep relationship. _I wonder if they slept together or something. Are they boyfriend and girlfriend, fiance and fiancee, or are they husband and wife?_

"But anyways Lara, Nadia was telling me that she was chased by two out of five Trinity agents here in Paris. They know where we are and they know Nadia since two of them tried to abduct her in Kazakhstan. That bartender must have implanted some kind of GPS tracker in your drink. It's a good thing you 'emptied' yourself. Pun intended."

"Shit, we have to be leaving." Lara gathered her stuff and took a sip of water. "Nadia, you may want to get out of here and head for safety."

"But I want to with you to Turkey." Nadia pleaded. "Please? I love going on adventures with you guys...well Lara at least. Plus I don't like Trinity any more than you guys."

Lara faced Ben. "You told her about Turkey? Why?"

"She was no threat and plus she is obviously a friend. A friend can't be let in on some things? Plus, Trinity knows about her and will most likely send someone to abduct her. We can bring her with. She can be useful."

Lara was about to argue with Ben, until she realized that he had a point. She knew Nadia and she knew that Nadia was a capable fighter; despite hiding in a locker and waiting to be saved by the bell basically. "Alright then. We can bring Nadia with us." She was now putting her trust into Nadia.

"Alright then. You ready for another adventure Nadia Wave?"

"What? What does 'Nadia Wave' mean?" Nadia asks.

"It's a pun for 'Alpha Wave'." He explains, but she did not get it. "I have good puns. Like my 'Fountain Ben'." He laughed hysterically.

At this moment, Lara was comparing Ben to Nadia. _They go hand in hand like peas and carrots. Like milk and cereal. Like Tom and Jerry, like Bullet and Gunn. Like Gert and Daisy._

* * *

 **Do you think it is possible that Lara is pregnant with Ben's child. Read to find out.**

* * *

 **Slavik Kennedy**

 **Born: May 13, 1982 (34), Wales**

 **Alias: Tango 1-2**

 **Hair: Red**

 **Eye: Blue**

 **Height: Five-eleven  
Weight: One-sixty  
Nationality: Celtic**

 **Relatives: None known**

 **Biography: Slavik Kennedy was born into a wealthy family, but ran away at the age of five. Spent the next several years living on the streets while being raised by people from town to town. On his eighteenth birthday, he became infatuated with the military, which he eventually joined and fought alongside several plattons, all whom eventually died in a war against Iraq. Now living a life as a mercenary due to PTSD, he was contacted by the leader of Trinity, who offered him a job working for Trinity. He accepted and spent three years as a mercenary before becoming an initiated member and becoming best friends with Kovak**


	7. Chapter 7

Istanbul, Turkey-Two Months Later

Traveling from train to train to get to Istanbul took much longer than they thought. The three of them wanted to take a plane to save time, but they figured it was better to stay on ground then on a plane. Ben told Lara and Nadia that Trinity has the resources to track targets via airplanes, but they got too arrogant when they thought they could track them through any means of travel. Traveling via train from country to country was not something on their radar. He knew about this because of his brother.

Lara was the first to step off the train and onto solid ground. Then Ben and then Nadia, who stumbled and fell down, but Ben caught her. "You alright Nadia Ray?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for saving me though."

Lara was getting slightly jealous of how Nadia and Ben were interacting together. After all, Ben was Lara's man. In the last two months they've been traveling together, their relationship had evolved from a sexual one, to a romantic one and they are both officially boyfriend and girlfriend. If Lara was getting married, she would be one happy wife if she married Ben Wheldon.

* * *

Just minutes before Lara and Ben and Nadia arrived, Trinity arrived. Jankovic, Zima, Slavik, Kovak and Ivan arrived at the airport in Istanbul. They did not track Lara and company via satellite, they tracked them via human sources. They made the connection. Lara and company took a train to Austria, then Hungary, Serbia and finally Bulgaria. Trinity's mercenaries and uninitiated members told of Lara buying a train ticket to Istanbul.

"You know, I just find it to be odd how Lara upchucked that GPS tracker prematurely." Slavik complains.

"Man, we should start using more mercenaries to track people instead of satellites." Kovak commented. "Jankovic, how's your head?"

Jankovic rubbed his forehead upon hearing Kovak. After he struck his forehead on the fountain, he received a large gash the size of a walnut on his forehead and as a result, he went into a coma for three weeks. As soon as he awoke from his coma like Rick Grimes from a certain American TV show, he went right back to his services as Trinity commander. "My head is alright Kovak. I swear, once I find this 'Nina Caron' I am going to kill her for giving me a concussion and gash on my forehead."

"And I will help you out man."

"Guys, how about we stay on mission here?" Zima suggests not wanting his team to lose focus. "We still have to look for Lady Lara Croft, Ben Wheldon and this 'Nina Caron'."

"I feel like 'Nina' is not that girl's name. I know it starts with the letter N though, I just can't remember." Slavik states. "I've seen her, I've heard her name before, I just can't remember it."

"Don't matter man." Ivan says. "What matters is what we are going to do to her as soon as we capture her."

"Kill her you mean." Jankovic corrects. "Ivan, that honor is mine." He laughed at the thought of having 'Nina' underneath him and begging for mercy. "Remember, once we capture Lara, no one is allowed to touch her but me. Understood?" He glares at the rapist of the group: Slavik.

"Understood." The men said simultaneously.

* * *

Lara was dressed for the occasion and climate of Turkey. She wore a pair boots that have been rinsed black, she wore her brown cargo pants and her blue tank top. The same outfit that she was wore on Yamatai, three years ago. Ben was dressed in his white shirt and blue flannel with jeans and sneakers. Nadia wore her trademark helmet, with a green cargo jacket and dark khaki pants and leather brown boots. All of them were dressed for dinner.

"So Ben, Lara, how long will it take for us to get to, the archaeology site, I am just...curious."

Lara decided to answer right after they walked into a restaurant in the Bazaar called 'The Hasan'. "Well, it should take us a minimum of eight hours to get there, if that's okay."

"It's okay, like I said...I was just...wonderin'."

Ben narrowed his eyes at Nadia, wondering why Nadia always spoke like that.. "Why do you always do that? Why do you always pause when mid-sentence? You say a sentence and then dot, dot, dot."

"I have no idea...actually. Am I still doing it? I apologize if you find it to be...annoying."

"No Nadia you can never annoy...me." He mocked, but in a playful way. Nadia laughed hard at his joke.

"You amuse me Ben Wheldon." She replied, using his full name.

* * *

While Ben and Nadia were getting seats, Lara was in the bathroom and splashing water on her face. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw an unfamiliar face. The face of a killer. To be honest, in the Yucatan Peninsula, when she was almost raped by those Trinity soldiers and forced to kill her friend, a dark side from within her was emerging. That night in the bar was her trying to drown the dark side Lara from existence. When the Gin had failed to do its job, she lost all hope.

Then came along Ben, who gave her hope. That night they shared in Paris inspired how she can still not succumb to the dark side. Like _Darth Vader_. From the name of that one American movie she can't remember.

Although she could vaguely remember, on one of their train rides, Lara and Ben actually made love once more in one of the compartments. Nadia was already asleep as well as the other passengers. Like in Paris, it was at nighttime.

As Lara walked out the bathroom, she realized that her feelings for Ben were real and they were pure. She really did love Ben and although they have known each other for only two months, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She wanted to marry him.

Then there was another thing, she might be pregnant. Although there were no sings, she was fifty percent sure.

"Hey Lara!" Ben called out from a table at the far end. The one with a white sheet on the table. Lara hustled her way and sat in one of the open chairs. She scooted her seat in and picked up a menu. She may not know her French, but she knew her Turkish.

The waiter was a tall and handsome man in a red suit with the name tag that read 'Mehmet'. His beard looked as fake as a bad CGI film and his nose was hawked-nosed. "Hello there, my name is Mehmet. How can I be of service today?" Despite speaking the English language fluently, his accent sounded somewhat cockney.

"Hello Mehmet." Lara said politely. She already had her plans on what she would like to eat. "I'll try the fried eggplant with a side of navy bean salad. And for a drink, I'll take a Sharbat."

Mehmet already wrote down her order on a small notepad that came from his pocket. Once he finished, he turned to Ben, who ordered a few simits, a side of menemen and a beverage called Salgam.

"And what about you young lady?"

Nadia was nervous. She was always nervous when she was talking to strangers. "I would like the simit as well, as well as...some coffee and a side order of...Doner kebab,...if that's...okay?"

Mehmet smiled at her nervousness. He took delight in seeing the girl cringe apparently. After he finished writing down the orders, he bid farewell in Turkish and walked away. Eight minutes later, he returned with their drink orders. Sixteen minutes have lapsed and their food finally arrived.

"We hope you enjoy our food. We all like to make sure that all the customers are satisfied in any way they wish." Mehmet said. "If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask me or the manager, Mister Dragan Sular." He waved before walking off. Lara saw him walk to another table and take another order.

Lara stabbed her fried eggplant with her fork and put it up to her mouth. She took slow chews, because it was hot and she had not taken into consideration if it was indeed hot. It didn't matter. They weren't here to sightsee or eat at fancy restaurants, they were here to discuss their plans to seek the crown at the site of Catalhoyuk.

"I was here in Istanbul last year." Ben says offhandedly. "Nothing has changed, except I haven't seen any Janissaries lately." He joked, causing both Lara and Nadia to laugh.

"Oh, so it's not your first time here?" Lara asked after finally swallowing her food. "This is my second time here. The first time I was here, I was looking for Noah's Ark. Did not find the boat though."

Ben shrugged. "Eh well, we all got our ups and downs." He took a large sip of his drink. He sets it down between Lara and Nadia's drink. All of a sudden, he felt something rub up against his inner thigh. He recognized that feeling. Lara Croft was pressing the rand of her boot to his crotch. He did not mine, he was used to it. But doing it in public, that is where he draws the line in the sand, until he felt a tightening in his pants.

Nadia was aware of their sexual relationship.

* * *

Flashback

It had been only a few weeks since they left Paris and Nadia was already getting used to sleeping on moving vehicles. After finishing her Turkish dessert, she went to go check on Lara and Ben to see if they were tucked in. She walked up to their compartment door, saw that it was slightly ajar. She was about to knock, until she heard the strange sounds of moaning. Looking through the small gap in the door, she saw Lara and Ben under the cover and doing it. Nadia nearly jumps out of her skin, with her tongue hanging out her mouth as if she tasted sour candy for the first time. She backs away in disgust, shielding her eyes before walking back to her compartment and falling asleep.

* * *

"So, what time are we going to the ruins tomorrow?" Nadia asked and Lara answered.

"Ten a.m. sharp, so put your coffee in your thermals and drink it once you wake up." Lara then went back to eating her dinner. "We have to watch out for Trinity though." She whispers very softly. "Trinity likes to use as less initiated members as possible, so they'll hire mercenaries to do their dirty work. We have to be wary of that."

Although Nadia had heard everything that Lara said, she was wondering what was going through her head. _Maybe she's getting sexual thoughts. If that's the case, then I am sleeping outside with a cat._

"Ben, can you get us some equipment for tomorrow? We are going to lower ourselves into a bottomless abyss."

Ben smiles and leans back in his chair. "What's this 'we' crap? I am not going down there, not in a million years. A job like that is up to two superior women like yourselves." His smile vanished, then reappeared. "Just kidding, of course I can get some equipment. I will go down there with you guys into the bottomless abyss."

"Finding everything delightful?" Mehmet said, stepping into view. "I see most of you ladies and gent are done. Shall I get the check for you three?"

Ben held up a hand. "Actually, yes. We loved your food, and can we get some bags to take some food home?"

"Why of course." Mehmet said cheerfully.

Nadia went ahead and took Lara's advice and poured her coffee into her thermal mug. She seals it up tightly, making sure no contents spill out on the red carpet.

A minute later, Mehmet returned with several bags. Lara and Ben began stuffing their food in while Nadia got up and went to the restroom, leaving her mug on the table.

"Hey Ben?" Lara whispered after stuffing her food in her bag. "Tonight, after Nadia goes to bed, do you want to go for round three with me?"

Ben smiled for three seconds before answering. "Hell yeah, I could do you all day and night if I could."

Lara instantly remembered how genuine her feelings were for him. She still wanted to marry him and she was about to propose to him. _Goddamn, I wish I bought a ring for the occasion._

Nadia materialized into view. "Here's Nadia." She walks up behind Lara's chair and puts her hands on her shoulders. "Ready to go?"

"One second Nadia." She told. Now it was time to break the question. "Ben Wheldon?" He seemed to take a keen interest when she used his full name. He was so interested to the point of leaning in. "Will you marry me?"

Ben's heart sank into his stomach. His love for her was nothing like before. "Hell yes Lara Croft."

Nadia smiled warmly, unable to say a single word.


	8. Chapter 8

**Difference between Trinity soldier and Trinity mercenary**

 **Soldier-Initiated member of Trinity**

 **Mercenary-Uninitiated member of Trinity**

* * *

Daytime has arrived and Lara, Ben and Nadia arrived at the archaeology site. Lara was dressed in her trademark outfit, a blue tank top and brown cargo pants. Ben and Nadia wore the same thing they wore last night.

The current Turkish and American archaeologists at the site evacuated and left the trio to themselves, using only the porters _they_ hired. Lara hoped it would be worth it, it cost her twenty million in both American and Turkish dollars to get rid of the archaeologists and three hundred dollars for both porters.

Lara, Nadia, Ben, and the two porters entered a huge temple with giant miniature statues inside made of brass. The room was lit up with torches that were discovered before they even arrived and at the very end of the room was a bottomless abyss. It reminded Lara too much of meeting her guardian at Delphi.

Ben had wondered how that eagle saved her eighteen years ago. Lara told him that when she saw the eagle, she felt weightless as she was almost about to fall into the bottomless abyss. Also, she told that when she looked directly into that eagle's eye, she saw herself flying above a chasm with that eagle carrying her, making sure she would not fall to her death; that is why she believes it to be her guardian.

On Yamatai, when she fell out of that airplane and the first parachute failed to deploy, she saw her guardian angel once more and that is just seconds before she deployed the backup parachute. In Siberia, she saw her guardian angel once more when she was swimming for her life to the surface. Just as she was about to blackout, she saw her spirit again and she suddenly found herself out of the ice.

Nadia and a lean porter named Kazim dropped their equipment near a pillar reaching from the ceiling to the floor and started pulling out supplies. The other porter-a stocky man with a graying beard that stretched four inches under his jaw-named Oktan decided to stay behind and wait for the others to finish unpacking before he decided to join them.

"All right fiance and fiancee' we should send these rope down...there." Nadia pointed while holding grappling ropes. She then gestures to the hooks on their grappling ropes and says, "Where do we plant these guys in?"

Lara decided to wrap the ropes around the closet pillar tightly. "Over here." Lara catches one of the ropes Nadia throws at her and she wraps the rope around the pillar, tying them together when the ropes meet. Lara looked at her husband-to-be and he looked at her. Not needing words, they both give each other a big, loving smile. _Still should have bought a ring,_ she thought sarcastically.

"Need a hand Lara?" Ben asked, but he clearly knew the answer. "Alright then. I'll just hook up these ropes to the pillar. Kazim, Oktan, you two can leave now. Yout work is no longer required."

Kazim and Oktan bid farewell and left the place as soon as possible.

"I think it's safe to say we can go down there now." Nadia says as soon as all three ropes were tied to the pillars. Nadia rappelled down first, then Lara and Ben.

* * *

"Oktan, Kazim, good job boys," Mehmet-or rather Ivan-praised. "Jankovic, Lima-Charlie-Beta-Whiskey-November (LC-BW-N) have descended down into the...Charlie-Oscar-India-Hotel-Oscar-Lima-Echo (COI-HOLE). According to these two guys at least."

"They seem so sure in finding the Crown of Immortality." Oktan pointed out. "They shouldn't have told us about it though."

Jankovic lightly patted Ivan on the back. "Good work. My instincts told me they would be here and it looks like I was correct. We just have to wait ten minutes, and then we can go down there ourselves, find the Crown of Immortality and then we can capture all three targets."

Kovak smiled. He was getting closer and closer to his target. While everyone else had their own plans for Lara, he had his own plan to cause her some real pain for a very personal reason. It involves his uncle, whom she killed two years ago.

"Sir, permission to speak?" Zima asked. When Jankovic granted him permission, he spoke. "What if the Crown of Immortality is not down the hole?"

"Then we still carry out our orders with capturing the trio." Jankovic turned to Slavik with seriousness and fury and approached him slowly. He grabbed him by the collar and shoved him into the rock wall behind him hard. "The Boss wants us to capture the three and brainwash Lara Croft into becoming one of us. If you try to rape her like in the Yucatan Peninsula, then she is definitely going to be permanently broken to the point where we can't even get her to talk. Plus if you get her pregnant then you are going to be executed on the spot, no hesitation from me and that would result in the baby having no father. If it ever comes to that, then we will be forced to give the baby up for adoption. I'm warning you, you try to rape her and I will slit your throat and let you die slowly and painfully." He was not laughing or smiling. He truly meant every single word he said to his small-time subordinate.

Slavik was more furious than scared. Even in an angry bull state, Slavik still followed orders. He let out a deep breath, casting his fury aside like a doll and looked at Jankovic in the eyes. "I understand sir."

Jankovic cooled down. He let go of Slavik's collars and turned to the Trinity mercenaries. "Grab a gun and be ready to jump down in T-minus nine minutes."

"Yes sir," Both Oktan and Kazim said.

* * *

"Shit," Lara curses. She tugs at the rope wrapped around her waist in an attempt to free herself. If the rope snapped, then she would plummet thirty yards to the ground. All she was trying to do was signal Ben above by moving the rope from side to side like a snake above her.

Ben quickly picked up on things and descended down to Lara's level. He puts a hand around her and helps her unloosen the rope around her waist. She grabs onto his shoulder a clutches his chest as they lower themselves down.

"Thanks Ben."

"Thought you were supposed to be self-reliant."

Lara smiled and kissed his neck. She could feel his pulse through his neck from the kiss."I just wanted to be with you."

"Quick question, do you see any eagles around?"

Lara looked around, her head spinning like an owl. "Nope."

"Well I'll let you know if I see your guardian angel." Ben hit the bottom, meeting up with Nadia. Lara dismounted from Ben's back and turned towards Nadia.

"Here's a flashlight for you. I hope it proves useful."

"Thanks Nadia," Lara says before she accepts the flashlight and switches it on. When Nadia wasn't looking, Lara looked at Ben's 'package' and he looked at her 'twins'.

"Hey, what is this stuff?" Nadia asked as she shines her flashlight into a sticky black colored substance on the wall. "It looks like some kind of goo."

Ben did an analysis of the stick substance on the wall. As a precaution, he picks up a pebble and throws it towards the substance. Like glue, it sticks to the wall. "This sticky substance is a very rare type of resin. It's like gorilla glue; it is very sticky and extremely hazardous if it gets in your eyes. Also, if it comes in contact with your skin, it is extraordinarily difficult to remove, it's like flypaper."

"So we stay as far away as possible from this resin?" Lara told rather than asked. She shines her light on the wall, checking to see if there was any more of this sticky substance. Much to her relief, there was none left.

"This way," Nadia said, leading down a path with the others following her. They kept their keen eyes and ears open, stopping only when they heard something that sounded threatening. The more they walked, the more darker and darker it got. Even to the point where light coming in from the cliff they rappelled down from was gone.

* * *

Jankovic, Zima, Kovak, Slavik, Ivan and twelve mercenaries both women and men climbed down the cliff and into the bottomless abyss. Each of them had a bolt-action rifle to avoid wasting any unnecessary ammo and go only for wound shots.

They did not have flashlights to turn on. If you want to follow someone in the darkness, then use night vision goggles, state of the art night vision goggles.

"Where to sir?" Ivan asked.

Jankovic looked around, hoping to find anything that would prove that people were here recently. The only signs so far were the three ropes. If there was one thing you could always rely on on unexplored tombs, it's that unexplored tombs are dusty and footprints are always left behind. Jankovic's eyes followed the direction of the footprints into a tunnel. He signals his men to move forward and to be cautious. "Who knows what's down here beside our three targets. Remember, there are three sets of footprints here so let's make sure there are _only_ three sets. Walk directly and I mean _directly_ , in their footsteps."

"Kazim, Oktan, did you find out that one girl's name?" Kovak asked the two former porters now mercenaries as they walked in a single fashion in the footsteps.

"Lara." Kazim answered.

"No not her, the other girl."

"I heard Lara call her Nadia."

Kovak smiled and turned to his best friend. "We have the name of our old enemy."

Ivan was not listening to the conversation going on between Kovak and Slavik, he was staring at the sticky substance on the wall. When he questioned Jankovic about it, he deduced that it was gorilla glue-like resin. "I would not want that on my skin."

"Too right Ivan."

* * *

Lara, Nadia and Ben made it to the end of the tunnel, where they found a huge door with a hole at the very bottom. This particular door reached to the top of the ceiling and was painted bronze and covered in centuries worth of dust. The hole at the very bottom was big enough for only one person to fit through at one time.

Lara went first with no hesitation. She bent down to her elbows and knees and startled crawling through. Ben stared with wide eyes at her butt, smiling like a schoolboy.

"What was that?" Nadia asked, looking around the caves as if she was lost. "That sounded like a _click._ "

"You can stay out here and investigate if you want. I'm going inside." Ben said, after all, he heard nothing.

* * *

Just behind them, Jankovic and his army of soldiers and mercenaries caught up. They were still a good distance from the three and they stayed hidden in the shadows. From his green point of view, he saw Lara getting down on her elbows and knees and started crawling through a hole. Now he knew where to go, but he also had to deal with Ben and Nadia. He continued to stalk his prey.

It was also his first time seeing Ben Wheldon. Now there was no use in him hiding his face, he was caught with his pants down basically.

Kovak had gotten ornery and raised his sniper rifle with a suppressor and lined the crosshairs up to the back of Ben's head. He made sure he was seeing right through the night vision goggles. He places the very tip of his index finger on the trigger and fired.

The gun jammed on him, but it did not suppress the soft sound of a _click_. Nadia turned and began speaking to Ben about hearing something. Not a single soldier moved at all. Nadia appeared to have ignored the sound and went to crawling into the hole.

Kovak felt his body temperature increase due to embarrassment. Jankovic and the others looked at him with disdain on their faces.

Jankovic shook his head like a disappointed father. "What the hell Kovak? You know better than that."

Kovak wanted to spit something back in his boss's face, but he understood Trinity's rules for inferiors and superiors. Anything the superiors say goes and he was an inferior so anything Jankovic says goes. He could not curse back at him unless he wanted harm brought back to him. When Jankovic threatened Slavik back at the surface, that was a warning. What Jankovic gave Kovak was a lecture in front of everybody. Not only had he been stomped on by his officer, he was stomped on by his officer in front of everyone.

 _Adding salt to the wound,_ Kovak thinks furiously.

Slavik walked up to his friend's side and patted him on the back, comforting him on some level. _I'm sorry commander, but I think it is time for you to retire from Trinity; one way or another._

* * *

 **Do you think Slavik will stage a coup against Jankovic?**


	9. Chapter 9

Jankovic, Oktan and Kazim and several other mercenaries and soldiers crawled through the hole that Lara and her two companions crawled through while Ivan, Slavik, Kovak and Zima stayed back. When the coast was clear and there were only two mercenaries with them, Slavik pulled Kovak off to the side, making sure that he steps in already existing footsteps.

"What's the matter Slavik?" Kovak asked as they stopped. Slavik gave Kovak a furious look. "What are you planning you wannabe-Lara-Croft-rapist?"

Slavik made an amused smile upon being called a rapist. He whispers softly to his friend. "I know we are just following orders, but I don't think Lara deserves to wear the Trinity badge." Slavik reasoned. "You remember back in Siberia-when I spotted her behind that church and you knocked her out-how many of our friends died because of her. She will bring us nothing but pain and anguish as long as we look at her. She can slit all of our throats in our sleeps. Even if we brainwash her, then how long until her programming and brainwashing end. Once that happens, then she'll slit our throats."

Kovak agreed to this plan not to support his friend, but because he had a bone to pick with Lara. "She killed my uncle two years ago. Commander Montez saw it and told me about it. I wanted to hurt Lara so badly, but he told me not to. I agree with you."

"Me too."

Both men snap their heads and see Zima and Ivan standing there with the remaining two mercenaries. Zima was was the man who said 'me too.'

"Why would you guys want to kill Lara?" Kovak asked.

"She killed Konstantine and Ana, they were my friends. I met them before I met you three."

Ivan spoke next. "My son was a casualty in Syria. When she blew up that tomb, my son was lost in the cave-in. She deserves no mercy from Trinity or me."

"It seems we all have a bone to pick with Lara," Kovak says. "What about Jankovic?"

Slavik shook his head, growling. "No, after the way he treated you and for his objections for genuinely not wanting to kill Lara, he can't be included in this conversation. There has to be a new commander for Trinity."

"So we are going to kill him along with Ben and Nadia." Kovak clarified. "He's been with Trinity since he was thirty-seven. We've all seen Jankovic survive even the most dire situations, how is he even going to die by one of our hands?"

Zima already hatched up a solution. "I say when Trinity acquires the Crown of Immortality, then we take it from him by force and then we blow up this place, with Jankovic tied up inside." He took a step forward. "As of now, I'm taking charge and any actions as of now are unsanctioned so if any of you guys want out, then step forward."

Zima waited exactly ten seconds for someone to step forward and nobody did. They were fully committed to what they were about to do and they were prepared for the point of no return.

* * *

 _I've got to tell Jankovic._

Ivan took a step backwards, walking into the footsteps and follows Jankovic. "I'll keep a close eye on Jankovic, it'll be best if I go alone, avoid detection."

That story he told about his son being a casualty in Syria was all bullshit. He was not loyal to Trinity as a whole, he was loyal to Jankovic only. Him and his best friend Ivar, who was still in London with the others.

Zima nodded. "Remember, you are part of the new world now."

Ivan hurried off, crawling through the hole that Jankovic crawled through with the others. He had to hurry up because not only was he a full eye and ear witness to the coup against Jankovic, he also had solid evidence. The wire that Jankovic told him to wear to keep a close eye and ear on the rapist recorded everything. As far as he was concerned, Zima, Slavik and Kovak were busted. The second time that Slavik and Kovak were busted at the drop of a hat, the first was during their failed capture of Lara back in London.

Ivan was there in the Yucatan Peninsula. When Lara was there with several guides, Ivan was the one to witness the near rape of Lara Croft after the two forced her to kill one of her guides. Kovak held her down and Slavik was the one yanking her pants down. The only reason why she escaped was because during the heavy rain and dangerous lightning storm that went on, lightning struck the trees nearby, scaring the soldiers and gave Lara enough time to escape. Ivan was a man who was totally against rape and was the one who actually opposed to raping Lara.

The only reason that Lara did not recognize Kovak back in the bar was because he kept his face as concealed as possible.

Ivan followed the three set of footprints, making sure that he never leaves his own and tries his hardest to catch up with Jankovic and warn him of the coup. But a sudden rumble shook him off of his balance for a brief second.

* * *

Lara, Ben and Nadia kept walking down the path, leaving fresh footprints behind until they met a dead end rock wall. Lara shined her light all across the wall, but she never found any other kind of entrance. Ben and Nadia were no more successful.

One odd thing was on the rock wall in front of them, there were several paintings. Lara took a closer look at them and rubbed the paintings. It appeared to be a painting of some kind of object. People have already excavated this place because the dust around the painting was fresh, but no one excavated further.

"I think this is the Crown of Immortality," Ben says as he walks forward, gazing at the painting. "There was not really any much of a description in that thing that Aaron wrote."

"Who knows about the inscription you found?" she asked.

Ben shrugged. "So far, only me and several MI5 and MI6 agents know about it, but a few of them died in a plane crash five months ago." _Or at least that is what I have been told, and I speculate that Trinity has something to do with it._ He remembers being told that Agent Harkov was discovered in an African desert. Apparently, he had a suitcase handcuffed to his wrist due to red marks on his wrist and the cause of his death was him plummeting from a great height. _Yep, Trinity definitely._

"Hold this," Lara ordered as she handed Ben her flashlight. She shoulders the wall, pain surging through her but she ignored. She shoulders the wall three more times before she falls through. She disappears through and falls into a pit of water.

With her elbows covered in water, she sits on her knees and looks around her. Without her flashlight, she would not be able to find her way out. She reaches back through the hole she fell through and felt a flashlight in her hand. She turns it on and fills the room with light.

"Guys, you might want to take a look at this!" She shouts just loud enough for Ben and Nadia to hear. "This place is unbelievable."

Ben and Nadia climb through and shined the room with their flashlights.

"The Tomb of the Crown of Immortality." Lara crawled forward, climbing back to her feet. "Ben and Nadia, I guess we are in the Tomb of the Crown of Immortality."

The room they were in had not a single speck of dust and the ground was painted a deep gold color while the walls had a crimson red color. In the center of the room stood an empty pedestal surrounded by three spiky spears sticking out of the ground and pointing at the pedestal in all three directions. Like key, fill and back lights for interviews.

"So the crown is hidden here? All I can say is...wow," Nadia spoke. "I thought we would see something even more epic here."

"Well, we aren't here to seek epicness," Ben told. "We are here to look for the Crown of Immortality and study it."

"Study it and see if we can save people without making them immortal," Lara added. "And to keep it away from Trinity. By the way, am I the only one who got a weird feeling from those two porters we had wit us?"

"Nope," Nadia answered. "I saw them grinning and chuckling whenever your back was turned to them. They are definitely up to something."

Ben took a step forward towards the pedestal. Lara and Nadia kept the light on the pedestal and watched as Ben performed his magic. He crept around the spears and prepares to put a single hand on the pedestal.

"Wait, don't!" Lara shouted. "Don't do it, it's never that easy. Don't put your hand on that pedestal."

Ben took Lara's advice and retracted his hand. He called Lara up so she could analyze the situation. "What do we got here?"

"Remember what the inscription said, the name of God and the Throne of God are the combinations." She examined the pedestal and the spears around it. Each of the pedestals had some kind of Hebrew writing on it and Hebrew was not a language that she could read. She asked Ben if he could read Hebrew, but he was unable to as well.

"I can read Hebrew."

Lara and Ben turned towards Nadia. Lara said, "You can?" in a shocked voice.

"My mom used to study linguistics and I sorta paid attention I guess." Nadia moved forward towards the three spears. She began reading right off the bat or rather right off the spear. "Okay, so the spear on the left is the Throne of God while the one on the right is the Name of God. The third one, it's kinda faded so I can't really read it."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Lara said. "I guess we should get to it. Let's start with the Name of God, which is Jehova."

Nadia shook her head. "No don't, this is Hebrew writing, meaning that we are dealing with the Hebrew Bible and in the Hebrew Bible, there is another name of God. If we screw up, then these spears might launch into our backs and kill us. We have to do this the Hebrew way."

Lara looked at her with amazement. "Looks like someone is no longer panicking under pressure. So what do we do?"

Ben noted how on the tall pedestal, that there were some bricks that looked like they could be rotated. "Look at these bricks on the pedestal. They look like they can be rotated." Lara and Nadia got a closer look before Ben continued. "You see, if you turn the bricks in a certain direction, then it creates an illusion. If we turn it the right way, then maybe the pedestal will reveal whatever is inside for us to see. But we have to complete the Throne of God and Name of God. Since God sits on a throne, the throne has to be at the bottom with God on top. The way how I said it makes me sound super smart and less hard."

Lara turned to Nadia. "This is your show N. You seem to know your Bible studies and your Hebrew so whatever happens next is up to you."

Now Nadia was beginning to get nervous. "Okay, give me a few moments. I promise you that I will unlock whatever key this holds."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Nadia." The sound of a guncocked was heard and it caused the three to turn around and come face-to-face with a tall man with curly black hair. "No guns, shame," the man said sarcastically. "No need to introduce yourselves. I know who you guys are. You are Nadia, and you are Ben Wheldon."

Lara raised her hands after a Trinity mercenary named Kazim stripped her of her equipment. "Hey then Kazim, I knew I smelt a rat."

"I'd watch your tone Miss Croft, that 'rat' works for Trinity now." Jankovic smiles at Lara. It wasn't a creepy or sadistic smile, it was more of a smile that offered comfort and reassurance. "I forgot to introduce myself which is very rude of me. Bad manners give Trinity a bad name. My name is Jankovic Jurisa, superior officer of your friendly neighborhood Trinity. Trust me, I do not want any harm to be brought to you. I promise you."

Ben and Nadia were stripped of their equipment as well. Nadia recognized Jankovic. "He's the one who chased me in Paris."

"Me and Zima. I guess I should apologize. You see, I was not chasing you with intention on killing you, in a way, I was saving you because if any of my men, either Slavik or Kovak got their hands on you, then they would have raped you and Lara." He looked somewhat sad, but his gun was still trained on the three. So were the others' guns.

"How do you know about Ben?" Lara demanded.

"Now you ask huh? An agent who just happened to be flying right next to us help give us a file."

"You killed those agents!" Ben shouted. "You killed those MI5 agents in Africa, didn't you?"

"Yes," he answered casually. "Water under the bridge. What is more important is what kind of puzzle were you guys trying to solve. Nadia I believe was trying to solve it. Do not let us interrupt you because we are just here for what comes after you discover whatever is inside that pedestal. Say the Crown of Immortality."

"She's not helping you out you bastards!" Lara stepped forward, ready to punch the Trinity commander in the face, but she stopped dead in her path. She realized that they were outnumbered three to nine and they were defenseless.

"I gotta say Lara, you look as beautiful as ever." Jankovic spoke in a rather fatherly voice instead of a villainous way. Lara was actually not disgusted by it in any way possible, but she was confused by his statement. "It was my tenth year in the Spetsnaz before I met you and it feels like just yesterday your father and I sat down on the park bench and watched you swing on the swing set."

Lara narrowed her eyes. "You knew my father?" She took a few steps closer to him.

"A very good man, the only friend I had, even when I served as a mercenary for Trinity when I turned thirty. It broke my heart when I saw Richard Croft die."

She punches him.


	10. Chapter 10

Croft Manor, England

"Listen up ladies and gentlemen," Bank said as everyone lined up in Lara's room. Bank spoke in an odd robotic and flat way to his teammates. Kinda like Eugene from _The Walking Dead._ "I was just recently informed that our superior officer Jankovic and company are currently stationed in Turkey. Sources from the Boss indicate that our desired WMD is much farther out than we originally thought. I was contemplating on whether reinforcements would be necessary, but my specific instructions from our superior contracting that however. I believe it would be best if we maintain our positions here in Croft Manor ad infinitum unless given new orders. Anyone wants to speak, than by ginger you are allowed to speak. No one, good. Let's make our superior proud. We don't require another FUBAR situation like back in Africa. I will admit, I do find Megalodons amusing and I am proud I got to see one up close. My only regret is I within reach of the predator's mouth." He got the scars on his forearm as a permanent reminder.

* * *

Tomb of the Crown of Immortality

Jankovic felt Lara's fist collide with his teeth, but that was all he felt. The pain in his mouth was all but non-existent. Jankovic laughed hysterically as Oktan and Kazim forced Lara back. "Lara, I really do mean it. I am sorry for what happened to your father and it did break my heart," Jankovic said sincerely. "I meant every word I said." He inadvertently provoked Lara once more.

She went in to throw another punch, only he saw it coming this time. He caught her fist and began squeezing. "Stop it you stupid little meagre woman. You seem so dependant on using your fists to attack me. How about this?" He twists her arm, forcing her to turn her back to him and jamming her arm upwards, causing her a great deal of pain. "Like I said, I do not wish any harm to be brought upon you, but that does not mean I am not going to use it?" He turns to Nadia, who stays where she was with her hands raised. "Nadia, you are going to solve this puzzle, or else I will have Ben shot in the leg and then I will torture Lara here in front of you. You won't be harmed, but you will be forced to watch as I torture Lara brutally, and you won't be able to do anything about it."

Lara tried assaulting him but he would always shrug off the pain or dodge her attack. "Don't listen to him! Don't listen to this bastard!"

Jankovic twisted her arm, causing her even more pain before whispering into her ear. "Zatknis," he said forcefully. "I have two men who would like to have some fun with Nadia. I won't let them harm you, but I will allow them to harm Nadia both physically and emotionally if you force me to." His face was so close to her that she could feel the warmthness of his breath and actually feel his voice as he spoke. "Understood?"

Lara refused to do anything this villain did, but the decision was not hers, it was Nadia's.

"Look, I will solve this puzzle as long as you do not hurt either Ben or Lara. Okay, I promise, as a matter a fact, I will get right to it." Nadia turned to the bricks on the pedestal and began working.

Nadia's hands were shaking, just like in Siberia. If she made one wrong move, then it would be the end for both her and Lara. The pressure was starting to get to her head and she knew she had to do something. She was beginning to panic as she read the Hebrew in her head.

"Someone appears to be panicking under pressure," Jankovic states.

"I'm not panicking. I'm just very busy." Nadia remembered: Throne of God and then Name of God. "The Throne of God: nothing Hebrew Bible mentions about the Throne of God, but Hebrew is often associated with Judaism or Jewish. So that means... _Araboth!_ " She rotates the brick so they create an illusion of a throne with the words ערבות across. "The next one is the Name of God and in Judaism, it is YHWH." She turns the second brick so the Hebrew word for YHWH appeared.

The first and second golden spears creaked. A mechanical clink was heard and the spears descended into the floor. Nadia watched in amazement before being barked at by Jankovic to continue. All that was left was the back spear.

The illusion was obviously meant to represent something. To Nadia, it appeared to look like nothing more than God sitting on a throne, well since God had no physical appearance, a throne with God's name written above.

"What now Lara?"

"What is the third brick? What is it supposed to represent?" Lara asked while at the same time answering.

"It looks to me to be God sitting on a throne." Then something clicked in her mind. "The third test is faith," she says proudly at her deduction. "A leap of faith," she said to Lara. "The third test is a leap of faith!"

"If you put your hand on the pedestal, that spear could stab you or some other trap could be set off," Lara warns. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"What's the matter Lara? You think you're the only who can unlock a tomb?" Jankovic asked. "Give Miss 'Caron' here a chance."

Lara narrowed her eyes at him, _Nadia Caron is her full name?_

Nadia sighs nervously as she faces the flat top of the pedestal, the back spear ready to strike like a snake. She raises her left hand, the one hand she does not like using and hovers it just three inches above the flat top of the pedestal. "At least my unfavorite hand will be gone." She closes her eyes tightly, her heart pounding before she slaps her hand down on the pedestal. The spear launches forward and aims to impale Nadia's hand to the pedestal...except it stopped only four inches from her hand.

Just hearing the noise the spear made as it lunged made Nadia cringe. Nadia shot her eyes open to see the spear retreat backwards and a hole opening up on the flat pedestal.

"Rad," Jankovic says. "Epic bro," he says to Lara mockingly. "Nadia, would you be a sweetie and grab whatever is inside that pedestal? Or else Lara here will have to wear a sling around her arm; possibly both."

"Shut up Jankovic!" Lara shouted, and was then kneed in the small of her back. Ben rushed Jankovic, but the mercenaries trained their guns on him and threatened him.

"You have your own Eddie Chase it appears. Don't you agree Nina Wilde?" Jankovic said as he jammed Lara's arm again. "And Nadia can be Sophia."

"Don't hurt Lara! I'll grab what's inside." She wasted no time to look inside the pedestal and saw something spectacular. A transparent golden cube about the size of a baseball. _Was this the Crown of Immortality?_ She'll find out when she looked to see for herself. She reaches inside and grabs the cube and lifts it up. A rumble shook the ground and shook Nadia nearly off her balance. "What was that?"

The ground shook again. The ground shook violently this time. The ground shook even harder and everyone fell to the ground. Nadia landed headfirst into the ground, the cube falling out of her hand and rolling away and towards Jankovic.

The Trinity commander reaches for it and the ground cracked.

"Earthquake!" a soldier shouted.

"Come on, let's go?" a female mercenary shouted as they climbed through the hole.

Lara kicked the cube out of Jankovic's reach, but before she could react, Jankovic kicked Lara in the face as hard as he could. The blow was as equal to Mohammed Ali's punch to the face.

Lara gurgled before she fell flat on her back and out cold. Ben had noticed and fury took over. He jumped back to his feet and sprinted towards Jankovic. He kicks Jankovic, unsuccessfully. The Trinity commander was much more experienced in hand-to-hand combat and much faster than Ben. He deflected Ben's blow and punching him in the gut. The blow made Ben fold and allowed Jankovic to uppercut the young man, knocking him out cold.

Nadia crawled towards the cube after observing Jankovic knock both Lara and Ben out cold. She snatches the cube from the ground and manges to get up to her knees before Jankovic grabbed Nadia by the throat and hurled her towards the entrance.

Jankovic could have easily have left Lara and Ben behind. He had no care for Ben, but Lara was different. Although they may seem completely different, but when Jankovic used to watch little Lara with her father just brought him a tear just thinking about. He felt like ever since Richard Croft died, then he had some sort of obligation to Richard to make sure that Lara lived. Had he not joined Trinity, then he would have raised Lara himself and then maybe she could have been a born Trinity soldier. _No, a Trinity tomb raider._

* * *

Jankovic just barely managed to save both Lara and Ben just as the floor in the room collapsed. He reminded himself that even if he didn't know Lara, he would still bring her in alive for Trinity's sake.

Jankovic carried the beautiful cube in his pocket with an unconscious Lara over his shoulder. Kazim and Oktan carried the unconscious Ben out while Nadia walked with a gun jammed into her back shoulder blade.

* * *

The second rumble shook Ivan even more, but when things got pretty violent, Ivan fell down to the ground and hard on his stomach. He groans in pain as a response to feeling a large rock get jammed into his left side. And then he felt something spill on his right shoulder blade from above. He was shocked and terrified to discover that it was the gorilla-like glue resin. The shaking not only disturbed the ground, but disturbed the hardened resin on the stalactites above him. He swatted the resin off of him like swatting a fly, but only more seemed to fall on him. He made the biggest mistake of his life by looking up at the stalactites just as the resin fell. Not on his shoulder blade, but on his face. His eyes, nose and mouth were tattooed to the resin basically and Ivan was unable to breath.

He kicked and thrashed, desperate to get the resin off of his face so he could breath. It breathing was so painful to the point where it felt like his lungs were on fire. They felt like they were going to explode within him.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Zima asked after feeling the ground shake below him. "Was that an earthquake or something?"

"I guess we came down this hole on the wrong day of the year," Kovak answered. "I'll call Jankovic, radio check him in?"

"Don't!" Slavik shouted. "Are you really concerned for Jankovic's fate? We just declared war on him. If you radio him and he answers, then that means that he survived the earthquake. We want to kill Jankovic, but as discreetly as possible. Plus, we could simply ambush him, but that is not discreet though."

"You're right. If Jankovic is indeed alive, then I'll say I tried to contact him and make up some believable make-believe story."

* * *

When Jankovic stumbled upon Ivan's corpse, he was saddened. Ivan was a good soldier and he was loyal. He was even more loyal than Zima and he never missed an opportunity to let Ivan know that.

"You," he points to two mercenaires. "You carry Ivan's body. No Trinity evidence left behind. Plus, he is a good person." _And he had a wire on him that only I know about._ Jankovic then turned his thoughts to Lara. He knew exactly what he was going to do to her, and he was going to regret it. He knows that torture is necessary, but that did not mean he liked it. He was going to regret forcefully brainwash Lara Croft into joining Trinity.


	11. Chapter 11

Three Days Later

"Wakey wakey," a sly voice sounded as Lara's vision came back to her. Her head was forced upwards and she stared into the face of Jankovic. "Good morning Lara, I see that you slept well." He motions at her restraints to the chair she sat in. "Trust me, you have not been violated. We made sure that you have been fed, clothed and kept warm. See look, I am not the kind of man who takes pleasure in torture. I understand that it is wrong, but at the same time a necessary method."

Lara spat in his face. "So you're going to torture me? That sounds blasphemy if you ask me."

"Jesus was tortured when he was crucifixed. He had nails drilled into his wrists, a crown of thorns placed on his head, and a lance stab him in the side just to ensure that he was dead," Jankovic justified. "Him and two other thieves if you read the bible. See, what Trinity does is for the greater good and you purposely blind yourself to the well-known fact. Public knowledge of Trinity does not exist and if you haven't noticed, only seventy-two out of 7.4 billion people in the world do no work for Trinity and know of our existence. You are one of them, along with Ben, Nadia and all the Remnants that are currently still alive. Lara, if you join Trinity, you will never be expendable. I promise to take care of you. I'll make sure no harm comes to you. Once we find the Crown of Immortality, then you and your boyfriend Ben can live together. Yeah, I know you and Ben are together, the signs are obvious. But once you join Trinity and we find the crown, the two of you can both be immortal and start a family together. Don't you want a family with Ben?"

 _If I answer, then I'll have to hit up upside the head with a baseball bat,_ she though as she gave Jankovic a blank stare. This was however, all he needed for an answer.

"You do," he smiled widely. "Look Lara, let's not bring any harm upon you. If you refuse this offer, then I won't harm you, but I will hurt you. That can all be avoided if you just join up with Trinity. All you have to do is pledge your allegiance, it is literally that easy. Well, not for mercenaries because the most anyone has worked for Trinity was ten years as a mercenary before they became fully initiated. If you remember Ana and Konstantine and I know you do, Trinity brainwashed them. Trust me when I say this, we have captured eleven people in the past and their brainwash was a total success. A...total...success. Whatever decision you make will be parallel, so I recommend the painless option over the painful option. I'll leave you alone to think about. And don't try to break out, it will only exhaust you. These restraints and this entire room was designed just for you Lara." He backs away from her slowly and walks out of sight.

Lara was finally given a chance to see the room around her. It was a small room with only one door that had no handle from the inside and it made her wonder how Jankovic even got out. She could not wriggle out of the chair because it was nailed to the ground as much as Grim's hat was nailed to his head. The restrains on her wrists and ankles were custom made, almost impossible to break out and there was no kind of keyhole for the locks. It was a newly designed restraint that can only be unlocked electronically and tampering with it would activate a fail-safe where it would actually tighten around the wristen enough to cut of the circulation to the brain.

"How do I get out of here?" She tried squeezing her hands through the restraints, but she only caused herself a great deal of pain. She spent the last seventeen minutes trying to free herself but it was pointless. These restraints were designed for her like Jankovic said. The cold blooded truth was she was not getting out anytime soon and Trinity knew it. She spent the last hour wondering where Nadia and Ben were and even if they were alive or dead. The last thing she remembers before being knocked out cold was Nadia solving a puzzle, then the ground shaking and then Jankovic's boot in her teeth.

The door opened from the outside and Jankovic walked in with a tray, the door sliding closed behind him. He make a beeline towards Lara with the tray and a smile on his face. "Hello Lara, have you reached a decision? You know what, let's settle over some cheese and crackers I brought. If I were you, I would not pass the opportunity to eat. Trust me, got it?"

"Where's Ben and Nadia?"

Jankovic shook his head. "I can neither confirm nor deny their fate." He picks up a cheese and cracker from the tray and put it to Lara's mouth. "Like I said, I would not pass the opportunity to eat. Actually, one way or another, prisoner never pass the opportunity. They either eat it, or we get a crowbar and force their mouths open which allows us to force feed them. Trust me, take the easy way."

Lara caved and took the food from Jankovic's hand and chewed thoroughly before swallowing. "How about this, if you answer my question, then I will eat the food you give me? You obviously seem to care for my well-being as much as I care for Ben and Nadia's well being."

This time, Jankovic caved. "Alright then. Ben and Nadia are alive, but I don't know if I would consider them well. Now you must eat another cracker." He feeds her another cracker and she asks another question.

"Where am I?"

"Let's just say underground."

Lara's hands turned into fists. She could see the whites of her knuckles. She wanted nothing more than to kill Jankovic right there. _If Ben and Nadia are near-death, then so help me Jankovic…_

The killer side within her was emerging.

"My turn to ask a question?" Jankovic said. "Why do you oppose Trinity so much? What have we done to you Crofts in the first place? When Trinity made their first appearance to Richard Croft, they actually offered him a job. This may contradict whatever you heard, but Trinity is doing things for the greater good. We don't want a global genocide, we want to make the world a better place. A world with no sin, no blasphemy, no pain, no fear...no more losing time with your parents. When I become immortal, I promise to bring back your dad, your mom. I promise to bring back Roth, Grim, Alex, everyone who was a direct or indirect causality of Trinity. We'll bring back all those Remnants in Siberia. Nadia can be with her parents and Ben can see his brother again. You, can start your own family with Ben. Have two or three strapping kids who would love to become like their mother."

Lara relaxed her hands. What Jankovic said actually got Lara thinking. Maybe, what Trinity is doing is for the greater good. Jankovic had so far never outright told a lie to her and he seemed to be sincere in everything that he was saying. Jankovic may be working for Trinity, but his intentions on making the world a better place seemed to be true. He never said that he wanted to take away death because he was a person who understood that death was a part of life. Maybe he wanted the Crown of Immortality so Trinity could use it bring people back from the dead and cure the world if diseases. His intentions were altruism, unlike Ana's. Maybe Trinity did kill her father, but Jankovic could bring him back. She was having a hard time accepting what Jankovic said though, but she could always tell when someone's intentions were pure thought and his intentions were pure. In every way possible, Jankovic stood in direct contrast from Kennard Montez, Cruz, Auger Ramille, Ana and Konstantine because he was actually a good man underneath his Trinity uniform.

"Trust me, it will not be something right out of _Pet Sematary._ "

Lara had no idea what _Pet Sematary_ was. The chance of her accepting Trinity's offer was fifty percent. Jankovic must have recognized that she was making a decision because he scooted backwards with the empty tray in hand and pressed his back to the nearest wall.

'Miss Croft, you have all the time in the world to make a choice. No one is here but me and I got nothing but time. So even if it takes you twenty-four hours, I will not hold it against you for making a decision at such a long time."

"Can I have some water?" Lara asked, hoping that water will reduce the stress that is building up inside her.

Jankovic took out a water bottle from inside his Trinity jacket and gave Lara a drink. "Remember, take as much time as you need. I'm sorry I have to leave you, but I was told by the Boss not to stay for too long, so I will be back in one hour. That should give you more than plenty of time to come up with a straight answer." Jankovic took his water bottle and exited the room. He opened the handle-less door from the inside by pressing something on his wrist watch.

Now that Lara was left all by herself, she looked down at herself and began contemplating. The other thing she had been thinking was something that had been nagging her since that romantic night in Paris. _Was she pregnant?_ So far, Lara and Ben did it three times and they lacked any kind of contraceptives. That was completely irresponsible of them. If only her father or Roth was alive, she would give them a lecture on using protection and the importance of not getting pregnant. Joining Trinity and being pregnant were now Lara's two biggest subjects for debate.

So far, she had made up her mind for her pregnancy thing. If she was indeed pregnant, then she would keep the child. Her Trinity decision is still up to debate. _If I do this, then I would be betraying my father for everything he has worked so hard to do._ She knew what and how Trinity operated and she remembered how she firmly told Ana that the answer to joining Trinity was 'no fucking way'.

She may actually change her mind though. One thing was official though, she was not going to be joining Trinity. _If you are indeed pregnant, then you do not want your child to grow up to be a killer._ She has made up her mind and Trinity was still going to be her enemy. She was actually hoping that she could change Jankovic's mind. He was never truly evil and his intentions were good so maybe there is still a bit of his humanity inside him that is just banging on the closet to get out.

An hour has passed and Jankovic came back in the room. He had no sort of equipment on him and his facial expression was neutral, making it very hard for Lara to read his thoughts. "So, Lara, how you come to a conclusion? A verdict of some kind because I am not getting impatient, the Boss is?"

Lara took her chance and decided to play along with him. She told Jankovic on how she came up with a decision and he seemed to change from neutral to excited.

"Well Lara, what is your decision?" Jankovic asked eagerly.

 _Okay this is it, the moment of truth. Lie and play along with him._ "Jankovic, I Lara, have decided to join the Trinity."


	12. Chapter 12

**Warning: Attempted rape in this chapter, just wanted to let you guys know just in case of any trigger warnings.**

* * *

 _She's lying. She's lying through that set of pretty white teeth._ Jankovic's expression was as neutral as they came, but on the inside he was fuming like a furnace. _My built-in bullshit detector just went through the roof._ He took a step forward and he put his face within three inches of Lara's, their noses almost touching. A smile slowly forms on his face. He was deciding what to do with her and since she was lying to him, he decided to lie and play along with her. "In that case, welcome to Trinity Lara Croft. You're are very valuable indeed."

* * *

Several minutes later, Jankovic walked out of Lara's captive room and went to the morgue. He was given some alone time by the Trinity forensic scanner and allowed to do a quick forensic on the fallen soldier Ivan. His naked body had a sheet over and his face was terribly scarred from ripping off the resin. Jankovic felt bad for the soldier as he was the only who actually listened to him. Zima, Kovak and Slavik always opposed him and even when he punched him in Paris, Ivan was still loyal. He paid his honorable respects by closing his eyelids.

"Ivan Kuznetsov, you were one loyal dog I will admit. Sure I punched you in the nose in Paris and I somewhat insulted you on that airplane ride in Africa five months ago, but your loyalty was unlike anything that my other teammates have ever shown. I will be sure to send my regards to your family and tell them that you died a good soldier. I'm pretty sure you would appreciate it." He puts two fingers to his own lips before placing them on Ivan's forehead. "I'm sorry for your death Ivan, I really am. We'll find the crown."

He went over to his rolled up pile of clothes and began looking for the wire that Ivan had on his chest. Each of the clothes he wore were put in a separate pile from his uniform and his street clothes. Since the wire was part of Trinity, it was in the uniform pile. He digs through his shirt and vest and finds the wire rolled up and placed very carefully into his left back pocket. He removed the long wire and took out a chop hidden in a small box at one of the ends.

 _Ivan died for this._

The chip was about two square inches and painted a silver color with no distinguishing marks other than the Trinity insignia. Only higher ups in Trinity were allowed to have their own distinguishing chip or one given by a Trinity higher up. He takes the chip and walks over to the nearest radio set in their, usually set up for announcements, and inserted it inside. _If Ivan died when he was a good distance away from Zima, Kovak and Slavik, then that meant that he must've recorded something that he wanted only me to see. Let's see what on tonight._

He pushed the play button. He heard a little bit of static, and a few voices speaking to each other. He identified the voices as Ivan's, Slavik's, Kovak's and Zima's.

Kovak: What's the matter Slavik? What are you planning you wannabe-Lara-Croft-rapist?

Slavik: I know we are just following orders, but I don't think Lara deserves to wear the Trinity badge. You remember back in Siberia-when I spotted her behind that church and you knocked her out-how many of our friends died because of her. She will bring us nothing but pain and anguish as long as we look at her. She can slit all of our throats in our sleeps. Even if we brainwash her, then how long until her programming and brainwashing end. Once that happens, then she'll slit our throats.

Kovak: She killed my uncle two years ago. Commander Montez saw it and told me about it. I wanted to hurt Lara so badly, but he told me not to. I agree with you.

Zima: Me too.

Kovak: Why would you guys want to kill Lara?

Zima: She killed Konstantine and Ana, they were my friends. I met them before I met you three.

Ivan: My son was a casualty in Syria. When she blew up that tomb, my son was lost in the cave-in. She deserves no mercy from Trinity or me.

Kovak: It seems we all have a bone to pick with Lara. What about Jankovic?

Slavik: No, after the way he treated you and for his objections for genuinely not wanting to kill Lara, he can't be included in this conversation. There has to be a new commander for Trinity.

Kovak: So we are going to kill him along with Ben and Nadia. He's been with Trinity since he was thirty-seven. We've all seen Jankovic survive even the most dire situations, how is he even going to die by one of our hands?

Zima: I say when Trinity acquires the Crown of Immortality, then we take it from him by force and then we blow up this place, with Jankovic tied up inside. As of now, I'm taking charge and any actions as of now are unsanctioned so if any of you guys want out, then step forward.

The recording stopped there and Jankovic was riddled with pure anger at his betrayal. The only in his group that did not betray him was Ivan because he knew that he had no son and he deduced that Ivan was running to warn him about the coup, until resin fell onto him and suffocated him to death. Ivan was dead, but he didn't die for nothing and he was going to make sure of it. He had to do something about this problem. _A chicken coup against me huh? I'll show those backstabbing cowardly dickheads who don't seem to have the guts to kill me themselves._ He turns back to Ivan and walks towards him. "You died a hero Ivan, I'll get you the funeral you deserve. You saved, thank you." He removed the chip, smashing it at his feet and went walking out of the morgue.

* * *

It was nighttime and Lara was sitting uncomfortably in her chair, sleeping. The door creaked open and Lara snapped awake instantly. Who stood there at the open now closed door was a man with a familiar face.

She recognized him, it was the Trinity soldier who tried to rape her in the Yucatan and with him here, his intentions seemed as clear as ever: he was going to finish what he failed to start a long time ago. "Hey there Lara, long time no see, I missed you."

Lara cringed upon hearing the voice of her attempted rapist. "I can't believe it is you. You tried to do horrible things to me!" She was hoping that Jankovic did not send him to her, although she genuinely believed that he didn't.

"My name is Slavik," he said as he took a step forward. "No need to introduce yourself Lara, I know who you are. You encountered me twice before, once in the Yucatan and the second time in the bar. You were drinking yourself to death and my buddy Kovak slipped a worm inside your drink. Not a tequila worm, a paralyzing worm drug and a GPS tracker. For some reason, it was upchucked a little prematurely, most likely due to a large amount of alcohol consumption."

She tried breaking the bounds around her wrists, but it was useless. _Like trying to lift a car while trapped in mud._ She stared at him in the eyes with no fear visible, at least not to him. "Does Jankovic know what you want to do?"

Slavik was contemplating on whether or not he should lie or tell the truth. He wanted to tell her about his little coup against Jankovic, but he was not some kind of James Bond villains, and plus she could easily squeal on him when Jankovic comes into the room. He was not going to take that risk.

"Where's Ben and Nadia?"

Slavik sucked his teeth and put a single hand on her shoulder. "If you really must know, then I will tell you, only if you agree to do one thing with me." His hand travels from her shoulder to her chest. He stops upon feeling his hand brush against her breast. "Just one thing and I will tell you Ben and Nadia's fate."

She spits.

Slavik wipes the saliva out of his right eye and growls hungrily. "That's it, now you pissed me off." He ripped her shirt, exposing her bare chest to himself. "Don't worry, I won't be gentle with you." He smiles as he forcefully kisses Lara while at the same time forcing her shirt off. She tried to protest, but the best she could do was bite him on the lips, and that seemed only to cause him pleasure instead of pain.

A hand grabbed the back of Slavik's hair and yanked him back. Slavik was caught by surprise and then he felt a blade pushed against his throat and blood flow. Lara gasped upon seeing the sight of a cut throat Slavik in front of her. The person who cut Slavik's throat open was none other than the first person she expected to see, which was Jankovic. The blade in his right hand was completely coated with Slavik's blood and the expression on his face was that of a sadistic man. "I warned you Slavik: you get inappropriate with Lara and I cut your throat. I gave you a fair warning and you go behind my back and try to be heinous with Lara. I hate people who go behind my back."

Slavik falls to the ground, both hands clutching his bleeding throat. Both Lara and Jankovic watched as he died slowly. Lara forced herself to look away at the dying man as Jankovic leans forward to talk to her. "You see Lara, if there is one thing I gotta watch out for between soldiers and mercenaries is that soldiers think they are so superior because of their actual ranking in Trinity. They think they can just do whatever they want behind a commander's back."

"How did you get in here when I didn't see the door open?"

Jankovic answered quickly. "I was already in here, hiding in the shadows and just waiting for him to come in here so I can kill him. I never liked the bastard anyways. I told him not to hurt you in anyway possible and he refused. Kids these days am I right. I promise Lara as long as I'm around, none of my men will do anything horrible to you. If you don't believe, just tell me and I will get a trusted guard to come in here and protect you."

"I trusted you," she lied, but she didn't know that Jankovic knew.

Jankovic nodded and released the restraints around Lara's wrists. "Why don't you go take a shower while I have a little moment with our dying friend here? Zima and Kovak are not going to be pleased, but deal with it. Markie here…" he points to a mercenary standing at the door. "...will guide you to the shower rooms. Oh and Markie, don't try anything stupid or else you will end up like the dying Slavik here. Understand...dickface?"

Markie nodded. "I understand, I won't be inappropriate with Miss Croft."

Jankovic shoved Lara forward towards Markie while Jankovic turned to the dying Slavik. When the others left the room, Jankovic had a few words with his former friend. "Consider yourself lucky that you didn't impregnate her. I was thinking, if she ever was pregnant, regardless of who while she becomes an initiated member for Trinity, I would have been the godfather of her child while Ben would assume the role of the father. Honestly, I don't think that will happen soon, but at least I'm honest. I know about the coup you, Kovak and Zima are planning against me. Ivan had a wire on him and he recorded everything; now he is one loyal dog. I hope you take comfort in knowing that I have such wonderful plans for Zima and Kovak and as soon as my scientists are done deciphering that cube, then will I initiate them. The three of you messed up big time. I'm kinda disappointed that you won't be around to see what they are though." And with that, he walked out of the room as Slavik died from a huge amount of blood loss.

* * *

 **Slavik Kennedy (May 13, 1982-April 6, 2016)**

 **A fitting end for a bastard like himself.**


	13. Chapter 13

"You know what Ben, we can make this torture last forever, if that is what you want," Kovak said arrogantly as he punched the defenseless Ben trapped in the chair in front of him. His knuckles began turning red from blood. Not Ben's blood, but his own blood. "Hey Zima!" he shouted without looking behind him. "Where the hell is Slavik? He's missing a lot of fun." He then put his hand against Ben's throat and began squeezing.

Zima walked up beside Kovak and shrugged. "I have no idea, and don't choke him. We are to kill him, but he is still an important tool to us. Jankovic says that he wants to use Ben to break Lara can you believe that? We have orders to kill Ben and Nadia and Jankovic wants to use them to break Lara before we kill them. I'm going to go check on Nadia, maybe Slavik is with her and having his own fun with her."

Kovak turned away from Ben to look at Zima. "Oh and when you are done, can you ask how long until we are done deciphering that cube?"

"Sure thing, right away." And with that, Zima left the room, leaving Ben to be tortured by Kovak.

* * *

Jankovic was in the lab with a Trinity scientists named Michael who was cleaning off the cube with a scalpel and washcloth. Michael told Jankovic that in order for him to translate what was on the cube, he specifically had to clean off all foreign materials on the cube. Jankovic was patient with him and allowed Michael to work in peace.

"Any progress on the cube?" Jankovic asked eagerly.

Michael was rubbing the washcloth against the cube like he was painting a fence. He put the washcloth on the table beside the scalpel and blew his breath into it. "Just about boss," he answers as he holds up the transparent gold cube.

"Let me see," Jankovic orders as he reaches for the cube, but Michael raised a hand, signaling for him to stop.

"Be very careful, it's thousands of years old," he urges as he slowly puts the cube in Jankovic's hand. "Remember."

"If I weren't careful, then Trinity would be exposed to public." Jankovic studied the golden transparent cube with such wonder in his eyes. Like a boy seeing a dinosaur skeleton. "So, have you decipher this cube? Where is the Crown of Immortality?"

Michael shook his head. "I still need a little bit of time to work on this. I just need five minutes and then we will have a definite answer."

"You have four minutes," Jankovic said firmly.

"Five," Michael protested.

"Four, and I will pay you family half a million dollars." He slowly places the cube in Michael's hands and wraps them around the cube. "Half a million dollars for your family." The smile on his face confirmed that Jankovic was telling the truth. "If you get it done in five minutes or more, then no money for you." Then he looked into the corner of the room to see a tied up Nadia. "Why is she here?"

Michael looked at the gagged and blindfolded Nadia and said only two things: "Psychological warfare."

* * *

Nadia may have been gagged and blindfolded, but she heard everything that Jankovic and Michael said. She started thrashing to get out of her restrained chair, but it proved to be useless. Her bonds were about the same as Lara's. She tried to scream through the gag, but it was too useless. When she heard psychological warfare come from Michael's mouth, she knew exactly what he meant. Since she was the one who solved the puzzle back in Turkey and took the cube from the pedestal, then she would be forced to hear as Michael deciphers the cube. She could not escape and she wished that Lara and Ben were here to save her. She heard the door open, detecting a new person in the room, but he was instantly shooed off by Jankovic.

* * *

While Lara sat under a shower spray, Markie was outside the room and cleaning her clothes. Lara had no intention for staying for very long, as she knew that the cube was in Trinity's hands. She knew that at this moment that Jankovic and other Trinity soldiers were currently deciphering the cube and she had to get it back before Trinity discoveres the location of the Crown of Immortality. She was all alone and naked in the shower rooms and the only guard and set of clothes were outside the room.

She had to come up with some kind of plan. Before she went into the shower rooms, she saw a half-open door at the end of the hallway. It meant nothing, but her instincts were telling her that the cube was being deciphered inside. She had to risk it, _I am a master of stealth after all._ After that, she would search and rescue Ben and Nadia.

One hundred and eighty seconds

She stepped out of the shower but kept the shower running to avoid any suspicions. She looked around her to see what she could use as a weapon, but found nothing. But in the farthest corner of the wall, there was a pipe loose in the wall. She noticed and slowly crept towards it and wrapped her hands around it and slowly began loosening it from the wall. She loosened it from the wall as if it weren't even there and it barely made a sound. _These idiots have really got to tightening their pipes this is the second time I've broke one off._

Markie sat on a chair outside the door, folding Lara's clean clothes and placing them neatly on the empty chair beside him. He takes out his zune and switches on an American song, despite the fact that he is actually Australian. He puts in his earbuds and tunes himself in, sitting comfortably in his chairs and putting his hands on the back of his head. _The_ _joy_ _of_ _relaxing_.

Of course the only door to the shower room was locked, but since when did a locked door ever stop Lara Croft? Lara holds her weapon in her left hand while she takes out one of her hair pins with her right hand and begins picking the lock on the door. The keyhole barely made a click and the door slid open by a fraction of an inch.

Lara looked outside, expecting to see Markie out there and she saw him sitting on a chair beside the door with earbuds in ears with his eyes closed. Even from where she was standing, she could hear the music coming from his earbuds, indicating that he had them turned up really loud, giving her a perfect advantage for a sneak attack. Frankly, she was actually glad that his eyes were closed because she did not want her nude form to be exposed to anyone but Ben.

She opened the door a little more and raised her left hand with the pipe in. She raises the pipe over her head and swings it down on Markie's head, killing him. _Shouldn't sleep on the job mate._ She looked around her to find anymore soldiers or mercenaries and was relieved, while at the same time confused that there were none.

One hundred and twenty minutes

Lara went for her clothes and dressed on the spot. She took the pipe with her as she walked down the hall, being extremely wary for guards and any kind of security systems. She kept crouched down in an awkward position as she stayed moving in the shadows. She was so close to the half open door and her heart started beating at whatever she might find inside.

She stopped when she heard a voice coming from inside the room beside her. She stayed out of sight and hidden in the shadows.

"Ben, I wonder how high your pain tolerance is you king shitbag. You'll pay for what you did back to me in London," a voice said. This voice sounded somehow familiar, albeit very vaguely. She felt like she heard it a long time ago and her brain was really cooking up, trying to figure out where she heard this voice from.

 _Excuse me miss, don't you think you've had enough? Gin contains 70% of alcohol. You are going to drink yourself to death ma'am._

 _What the hell was that?_

 _A cure to alcoholism. Do you have a driver?_

 _Kovak, that bartender guy, the one who drugged me and GPS'd me._ She may have been drunk that night, but her memory is more superior than an average person's memory. He mentioned Ben so that meant that he was in there.

"Hang on Ben, Zima is calling me," Kovak told as Lara took a peek into the room.

Sixty seconds.

"Zima man, where are you?" Kovak asks as he puts a phone to his ear. Lara saw that Kovak's back was turned to Ben's, and Ben's face looked as bloody as ever. "The cafeteria, we have a Ben Wheldon to torture man. Oh you're hungry huh, why not just bring the food in here and eat in front of Ben? Oh, you want to take a break, well I'll be here for a while but tell Carter to fix me a chicken sandwich, the kind from that American restaurant. The Chick-fil-A kind and I'll see you in ten minutes." He hangs up the phone and turns back to continue to torture Ben.

Lara was not going to sit down and watch Ben get tortured right in front of her. She clutched the pipe in her hand and slowly walked into the room. She walked very slowly towards the blond haired 'bartender' and whacks him upside the head with the pipe.

Kovak looked behind himself and saw Lara holding a pipe. He was a little shocked to actually see her and actually cracked a small smile until he felt pain. He reached for the back of his head and felt something wet. He looked at his fingertips that touched the wetness and saw blood. His legs give in and he falls to his knees, groaning and moaning. Lara finishes Kovak off with a single kick to the jaw.

She looks at Ben and smiles. "Ben, are you okay?" she asked, despite seeing that he had a black eye and busted lip. She dives in and kisses him forcefully on the lips. "Ben, I'm going to get you out here, I promise."

"That thing around Kovak's wrist, the electronic thing. The only way to unlock these restrains is that thing," Ben told in a slurred voice. "I saw the code, it was 8712."

Lara wasted no time to remove the watch from Kovak's wrist and type in the number that Ben mentioned. The restrains around his wrists opened up and allowed him to get up and massage his wrists...and to hug and kiss Lara. "All we have to do is save Nadia and then we can get out of here, right after we get that cube."

* * *

"You have twenty seconds Michael," Jankovic reminded. "That money is going to burn in nineteen seconds," he warned with venom in his voice. "Course I don't mind because Trinity has a nearly unlimited amount of money, but we decided what we do with the money and who gets paid or who doesn't get paid. Hurry up!"

"I have it!" Michael declares. "I've deciphered it," he says proudly. "I've discovered the location of the Crown of Immortality and if you don't believe me, then go have Miss Croft authenticate it herself."

"Trinity has faith, give it to me," Jankovic ordered and Michael handed the Trinity commander the cube. He reads the hidden message on the cube and asks Michael what it said. Michael translated and Jankovic smiled evilly. "Wow, it appears that our little Crown of Immortality is not in Turkey, but is in Italy. Rome to be exact." He turned to Nadia and repeated everything he said. "We are going to Rome Nadia."


	14. Chapter 14

Lara smacked Jankovic in the back of the head, throwing him forward and crashing into Michael. The two tumble down, and despite being hit in the head, Michael was the one who was unconscious upon hitting his head. Jankovic growled like a demon and kicked Lara in the crotch, seriously hurting her. He proceeds to kick her in the chest while she is still bent forward and she crashes into a nearby table.

Ben raises his foot to stomp on Jankovic, but the man appeared to have noticed and deflected the stomp instantly. He strikes Ben in the knee before kicking him in the back. He kips up and proceeds to punch Ben in the back of his head and shoves him towards the restrained Nadia. Ben crashed into Nadia and the chair which she sat in fell backwards.

Jankovic turned backwards toward Lara with a grin on his face. Lara was still shocked on how Jankovic was able to take a pipe to the head and the pain would disappear instantly. He was a fighting machine of some kind, designed not to feel any pain. If he could take down Ben instantly, who was a highly skilled fighter especially in martial arts, then that meant that Jankovic was born to become a Trinity commander.

"Lara, little Lara Croft. You actually thought you could screw with me. You actually thought you could lie with me. You have so much to learn you brainless assholes." He clenched his fists. He had no intention of harming Lara, he actually wanted her to escape. He already hatched a plan as soon as he found out that their object of desire was in Rome. Since he currently knew where the Crown of Immortality was, he wanted to make things a little more interesting. He wanted a challenge and Lara Croft was most certainly a challenge. He was going to let Lara Croft escape one way or another with Ben and Nadia while he would have a day head start on getting to Rome before Lara and her two companions would. _If Lara finds the Crown of Immortality before us, then good. If we find it before her, that is good as well._ If Lara was successful in finding the crown before Trinity, then he knew that Lara would most likely destroy the crown just like she destroyed the Divine Source, but after that, Jankovic will brainwash Lara Croft into joining Trinity.

However, if Trinity found the crown before Lara, then they will initiate their plans on becoming immortal beings and continue to forcefully brainwash Lara into joining Trinity. In Jankovic's mind, it's win-win.

"You knew I was lying?" Lara asked.

"Does not sound like a denial," he says as he walks towards her. "Did Markie sleep on the job or something?" He swings a fist at her, she dodges it and punches him in the gut, but no effect. Lara dives out the way and picks up the fallen pipe to hit Jankovic with it.

The commander was more agile and struck Lara in the shoulder, hitting her pressure point with just a single finger. She yelped and fell to her knees. "You are now under my control Lara. I learned this move in the Spetsnaz, they sure know how subdue adversaries." He moves his hand to the right while keeping his finger on Lara's pressure point, she moved to the right. Everywhere he moved his hand, she would be followed. "I can easily call my boys in here, but I'm afraid they will do actual harm to you. I'm hot harming you, I'm just hurting you; there's a difference between hurt and harm."

Lara's face was turning red from the pain. Her eyes were shut tightly and her fingers were wrapped around Jankovic's wrist, desperate to remove his hand from his shoulder, but it was useless.

 _Use your resources Lara,_ she says to herself and moves one of her hand across the floor, trying to find anything to use as a weapon, and then she feels something brush against her pinkie. She moves her fingers to the object and wrapped her fingers around like a spider. It felt metal and heavy like a large rock. Whatever was in her hand, she struck Jankovic in the one place that will cause pain to almost anyone: the groin.

Jankovic groaned and folded over, taking his finger off of Lara's pressure point and allowing her to hit Jankovic in the face with it. The commander falls flat on his back with his nose bleeding badly with crimson colored blood. Lara felt the pain in her should disappear as she got up to her feet and stomp on Jankovic's throat.

"You're gonna pay for that Lara!" Jankovic shouts as he clutches his throat. He meant business when he elbowed Lara's knee with all his might and kicked Lara off to the side.

Ben was going to help Lara, but he was trying to concentrate on freeing Nadia from the chair. He already got the gag and blindfold off of her and all she had was the restraints on her wrists and ankles.

Jankovic obviously had the key to Lara's restrains, but Michael had the key to Nadia's restraints since he was the only one watching her. He quickly crawled toward the unconscious Michael and removed the watch from his wrist. He typed in the same combination that was used to unlock his restraints, but much to his surprise, it failed to work.

Jankovic looked forward and his eyes widen upon seeing a bloody Ben trying to free Nadia using Michael's wristwatch. _How stupid of you to think that Michael had the keys this entire time. Who do you think was the one who unlocked you keys Ben? It was not Kovak, it was me._

Jankovic reached for his wristwatch and typed in a combination. He gets up on his feet and turns to Lara, who was steadying herself against the table.

Ben was completely bewildered on how Nadia's restraints released all by themselves, but she was free nevertheless. "Let's get him Nadia," Ben says as he helps the wounded Nadia to her feet.

"Ben, the cube, we have to find it," Nadia urged. "We have to take it with us, we may need it!"

Ben looked at the unconscious Michael and saw the golden transparent cube lying against his head. Ben quickly dives forward and grabs the cube with only one hand. Just as he grabbed it, a foot stomped on to wrist, forcing him to open his hand. He smashed on the foot with his other hand, but it was useless. He looks up, his eyes rolling and he sees Jankovic holding Lara in a chokehold. The commander uses the foot he stomped on Ben's hand with to kick Ben in the jaw, splitting his lip and snapping his head backwards.

Nadia, wounded, charges at Jankovic, who sees her attacks coming right off the bat. She was already wounded and there was no point in wounding her anymore. With Lara still in his chokehold and struggling to get out, he uses his free left hand to punch Nadia in the jaw and kick her backwards.

He then looks at the cube at his foot. _If I am going to have a challenge, I at least want the cube in my possession in case. Lara Croft doesn't need the cube to look for the crown, if she can._

Jankovic puts a foot on Ben's throat and starts pressing down. He turns to Lara and puts his face close to her ear. "I would like to play a game with you Lara. The race to the Crown of Immortality, winner takes all and winner, if she's a Croft, will be Trinity's newest member."

He wastes no time to shove Lara as hard as he could in a specific direction towards a wall with a window. Lara crashes through the window headfirst and rolls down a desert-like hill.

"Second contestant," Jankovic says as he grabs Ben by the throat, hauls him up to his feet like a bag of feathers and throws him towards the destroyed window and sending him rolling down the desert-like hill.

"Last but not least, the contestant who also happens to be Siberian like me." He moves to Nadia and grabs her by the chest and belt and lifts her over his head. He turns his head upwards to face Nadia and smiles at her. "Remember Nadia, to tell Lara and Ben that the Crown of Immortality is in Rome. If you don't mind, we'll keep the cube, to make it fair. You get a challenge and we get a challenge. Увидимся (See you)." He hurls Nadia headfirst through the window and watched eagerly as she rolled down the hill, picking up dust and sand. He smiles at the beautiful sight and licks the blood around his lip like a dog. All he had to do for his teammates was to make it look like Lara and her three friends escaped, he certainly had the bruised face and unconscious Michael for it. He still had the cube in his possession. He had to cover his tracks pretty well because he knew that if Trinity found out that he allowed their prisoners to escape, he would be branded a traitor and will be publicly (to Trinity) executed.

He may be a liar and traitor, but he was no backstabber because unlike Zima and Kovak, he doesn't plan coups against his leader and even if he did, he would kill the leader himself instead of waiting for him to die. _I'm better than Zima and Kovak._

"Jankovic, are you okay?" a voice said behind Jankovic. He looked over his shoulder and saw Zima with a false look of sympathy on his face. "What happened, where's the prisoners?"

"They escaped," Jankovic said quickly. "They somehow got out of their chairs and they killed Markie and Slavik." He looked quickly at Zima's face to try and detect any hint of anger. "We're going to avenge them, we still have the cube and we have it deciphered. We are going to Rome. We leave in no less than twelve hours. Also, how many bullets do we have for each gun, it's rather important that I know?"

* * *

Lara lied on her stomach on the hot ground with her head bleeding from when she got hit by a rock. She slithered towards Ben a few feet in front of her and wrapped a hand around him. He lied on his side with his hands around his throat. "Ben? Ben, are you okay?"

Ben moved one his hands to a Lara's hand. "Throat feels a little sore, but I think I'm fine," he says groggily as blood drools down his lip like saliva. "I'll be alright, I've been through worst. That Jankovic was like a Mr. Miyagi or something. Wait, where's Nadia?"

As if on cue, Nadia rolled down the hill and landed right on Lara, barely missing Ben by an inch. Nadia landed on top of Lara with her knee connecting to Lara's jaw and her elbow poking into her left breast.

Lara groaned in pain and pushed Nadia off of her. "Why did you have to roll on me? When you are jumping out of a window, can you at least watch where you roll?"

"I didn't jump out the window, I was shoved out," Nadia explained as she spat blood out her mouth. "Jankovic picked me over his head and he threw me out. Before he threw me, he told me to tell you guys that the Crown of Immortality is in Rome."

Lara and Ben asked Nadia for clarification and were stunned to find out that the Crown of Immortality really is in Rome. "But why would he want us to know?" Ben asked.

"Because he wants a challenge," Lara said, deducing Jankovic's intentions. "He knows that he has a headstart on us and he wants to challenge us to see who will get there first and get the crown first. That means we have have to find our way out of here and get to the nearest airport to Rome." Lara slowly stood up to her feet and helped up Nadia and Ben. "Anyone know where we are?"


	15. Chapter 15

A day later, Rome

Although Lara, Nadia and Ben were flying over Rome, Italy, they had no idea where to go exactly, so Ben was looking on a laptop the most historical places in Rome. Lara and Nadia moved towards the front of the private jet to ask the pilots how long till they land and they had seven minutes to spare.

The two head back to Ben and they ask what he found.

"I found nothing. The crown dates back as a couple million years, evident by the Sumerian language and none of these places in Rome seem to be as old as the crown, with the exception of the Vatican. I've been to Rome a dozen times and I am no more successful."

Lara sat in the chair beside Ben while Nadia sat in the chair across from him. "Maybe," Lara began, "The best answer is the simplest answer, instead of us trying to run around in circles, we follow Trinity as they look for the crown. After all, they had a day headstart on us and they left us in the dark with the exception of the crown being in Rome. Trinity has been following me to lost cities and ancient relics, so why not turns the tables and follow them?"

"That's a good plan Lara, but how will we know Trinity from civilian?" Nadia asked. "There's a couple dozen of them and only three of us."

"We've been outnumbered before Nadia and plus, just trust when I say that I have really good instincts."

* * *

Jankovic, Zima, Kovak and twenty five mercenaries and soldiers were dressed as regular people and walked all around the inside of the Pantheon, making sure their faces were never captured in security cameras as that is something that could not be allowed amongst Trinity.

Kovak remembers Kennard Montez telling him that Lara managed to take a picture of her uncle Greg and himself ( **Kovak was the one Lara dubbed Blazer Bloke if you read the novel** ). Kennard somehow managed not to get any outside facial image captured of himself.

Even though there was a total of twenty-five mercenaries and soldiers, only one-third (8) of the group was loyal to Jankovic while the other two-thirds (17) were loyal to Zima and Kovak. Jankovic was fully aware of who to trust and he smiled at the ace he had up his sleeve.

Jankovic kept his head down as he passed through a hallway that had a lot less people than the kind on the outside or in the main room. He held the cube in his inner jacket pocket and the cube actually vibrated whenever he would walk in the wrong direction, or the right direction. Like a game of hot and cold and right now, he was getting hot. He kept his hand on the nearest wall and kept it on the wall as he walked forward, moving as far away from the crowded people as possible. "I know where I am going."

"Are you sure?" Zima asked.

Jankovic turned his head slightly, keeping his facial expressions as neutral as possible (something he was proficient at) and nodded to his treacherous friend. "I'm sure Zima, just make sure your guns are loaded for any guards or something else. We are venturing into uncharted territory, so we could meet something never before seen before."

Zima nodded (not at meeting something never before met before, but at keeping his guns loaded), with a curve on his mouth. "Sure thing boss."

* * *

Lara Croft, Ben Wheldon and Nadia followed a whole group of men from the Colosseum to the Pantheon. Every curve they made to follow the men, they would change their clothes to avoid suspicion. When they came across places they could not really cross publicly, they would use their environment, work their way around and use parkour skills to scale the rooftops.

Just as they trailed Trinity down the hallway that the Trinity took, the switchblade hidden in Lara's sleeve began sliding down her arm and nearly fell of her wrist and onto the ground, if she had not caught it in time and slid it back up her sleeve. It took them twenty-five minutes to trail Trinity and they were not going to be caught sneaking into a historical place with a weapon falling out of her sleeve.

Nadia waited to be out of sight from people before she put her aviator hat back on her head and turned to Lara. "How can nobody notice the twenty-eight walking down this hallway?"

Lara had an answer. "They're dressed like journalists and photographers and college students. The passes they have around their necks look to be laminated, which makes it look pretty realistic. They are pretty smart and are determined to not be exposed to public. Once I find the leader of Trinity, I will kill him or her and expose this organization to worldwide publicity."

"I heard that," Ben said in agreement. "I will avenge my brother."

* * *

"How far Jan?" Kovak asked impatiently. "I'm starting to get claustrophobic from it being crowded in this hallway." And he was not lying, he was actually getting claustrophobic from being trapped in the crowded hallway.

The vibrating in Jankovic's chest from the cube felt like he had two hearts and they were both beating intensely with adrenaline, the kind that can only be generated from either fear or pleasure. _Pleasure,_ he mentally drooled.

He looked back and saw no civilians behind him while he kept his hand on the wall. He eventually came to a turn to the left and the others followed like a herd of cows. Dozens of feet behind them were Lara, Ben and Nadia.

The cube led Jankovic, Zima, Kovak and three soldiers into a dead end corner with a painted wall. The others stayed behind while the six men began analyzing why the cube led them to this dead end wall.

"Jankovic?" Kovak began.

"Check for camera, now," he snapped. Kovak told him that no cameras were in sight before he was allowed to ask his question.

"Why would this cube lead to a dead end in the wall?"

"That is something we're trying to figure out," Jankovic said. "Pete, Waldo, check the pillars beside me for any kind of secret door or passage or whatever." Jankovic began putting his hands all over the wall, checking for any loose bricks or tiles, him and the soldier named James. Zima and Kovak were just staring at them with blank looks on their faces. From their point of view, they looked like vultures clawing in vain to get their food.

Zima put his hand to the pistol on his waist holster. He was just so eager to pull it out and shoot Jankovic dead in the back and just kill all the other soldiers and mercenaries that were still loyal to him. The only thing holding him back was the fact that his gun was unsuppressed, and he wanted to make sure he acquired the crown before killing Jankovic. _Don't worry, my gun is loaded. I made sure to follow your orders boss._

 _You think you can overthrow me Zima?_ Jankovic thought as he searched the wall. _I know exactly what you're doing. I killed Slavik and I feel no remorse for my actions._ The cube in his chest once again vibrated and this prompted him to pull out the cube and hold it in front of him.

"What is it boss?" James asked as he eyed the glowing cube. "Something happening?"

"It sure is Jim," Jankovic answered. He puts his other hand to the cube and holds it upwards until the cube glowed very brightly, almost to the point of blinding. "Looks like the cube is showing us the way. How delightful of this cube."

The painting on the wall began to slowly split down the middle and separate from itself like some kind of illusion and the bricks on the wall lowered down and transformed into stairs that lead into darkness. Jankovic was standing at the door to the entrance to the tomb and he stared with wide eyes into the darkness. "Well well well, stairs leading downwards, I can' believe it." He cracked a smile. "Kovak, Zima, you two go down first and I want you to scope the place out for me. That is an order."

Zima and Kovak both sneered and narrowed their eyes at Jankovic, but to keep up their cover, they moved forward, Jankovic taking a step to the side and allowing the two traitors down into the cave. Jankovic was so tempted into just kicking Kovak into Zima so they both can tumble down and break their necks at the bottom, but he wanted to expose the two for the two-faced bastards they were.

He had two aces up his sleeve.

* * *

Lara, Ben and Nadia made it to the very end of the hallway, made a turn to the left and they saw the hole in the wall and not a single soldier or mercenary. It became pretty obvious that Jankovic and his army became the first to discover the Tomb of the Crown of Immortality.


	16. Chapter 16

"Those bloody bastards went down into the hole," Lara said. "We got to chase after them. I'll go first, any spikes that shoot out the wall, I will take them to the gut."

Ben was slightly uncomfortable with Lara going first because she said that. Instead, he takes a step forward and the three of them walk down the flight of stairs into darkness, switching on their flashlights. But as soon as they reached the very bottom, the opening closed up, sealing them in and they were left standing in front of dozens of men with their guns drawn on them.

Lara knew they had been caught and she raised her hands, Ben and Nadia doing the same. She noticed that the Trinity soldiers had night vision goggles, state-of-the-art ones. She was strangely curious as to where they got the night vision, but her thinking came to a stop when Jankovic stepped into view with Zima and Kovak behind him.

"Hello there Lara Croft," Jankovic said with a hint of enthusiasm in his voice. "You pulled a Trinity on us. Instead of us following you into a tomb, you followed us into a tomb."

"I guess that means you pulled a Lara on us," she said sarcastically. "Did you not see the only entrance down here close up? We're all trapped down here and we have no idea where to go."

"Incorrect," he holds up a finger, silencing her. "This cube I have inside my pocket is guiding me. It's guiding all twenty-eight of us. It's almost like He is guiding us." He takes a step towards Lara, ignoring Ben and Nadia. "Since you can't escape, how about you come with us in our search for the Crown of Immortality?" Kovak waved his gun towards Nadia's head and stayed as silent as a silent movie. "A simple yes would do Miss Croft."

Lara nodded and Jankovic took her by the hand and lead her to the front of the line as they followed the dark chasms. "Don't hurt either one," she indicates to Ben and Nadia.

"Are you talking to me or Zima and Kovak?"

"Kovak and the one named after an alcohol." She felt like grinding her teeth against Jankovic's throat. Since Lara and Jankovic were at the front line of the group, Lara counted how many people there were in total. Plus Jankovic, there were a total of twenty-eight Trinity operatives and plus her, Ben and Nadia, that totalled to thirty-one people. They were outnumbered 28:1. The odds have not been in their favor ever since Lara even discovered Trinity. Even without Ben and Nadia, Lara would be outnumbered by Trinity overall 500:1. But if there was one thing Lara had that Trinity didn't, it was wits...and a knife hidden up her sleeve just threatening to slip loose. All she had to do was stab Jankovic in the chest and that should kill him, but on second thought, he may know what happened to her father.

She had to use her wits on the ones who actually did want to bring harm to her, Ben and Nadia. That meant, Kovak, Zima, and every other Trinity soldier and mercenary who had been given Lara evil smiles or gave off pretty bad vibes. Surprisingly, Kovak and Zima gave off even more bad vibes than Jankovic or any other soldier or mercenary in the chasms with them.

"So Lara, how does it feel to be one step closer to actually discovering the Crown of Immortality?" Jankovic asked eagerly. "It must feel good my Tomb Raider."

Lara hated the name 'Tomb Raider', only when it came from Jankovic's mouth. Ben called her the 'Tomb Raider' a few nights ago and she was completely comfortable with that title. "I'm no Tomb Raider Jankovic," she says before shooting Ben a look. He shrugs innocently while being shoved forward by a mercenary. Nadia was in the same position: pushed forward by a mercenary.

"You don't believe yourself to be a Tomb Raider, then what are you Lara Croft? You're not Lara Croft because that's a boring title. No offense." His smiled proved to be self-contradictory.

"None taken Jankovic." The sarcasm in her voice as clear as water. "I'm just a regular archaeologist trying to stop a rogue organization from reshaping the world in the most awful possible."

Now Jankovic seemed to reach the peak of his anger because his fists balled up and the whites of his knuckles were visible and his face turned really red. "What Trinity is doing is for the greater good. I have told you numerous times and you still seem to prolong the inevitable. Trinity will win this war and in the end, you will be left kissing Trinity's feet."

Without thinking, Lara did the one thing she was good at: kicking ass. She kicks Jankovic in the groin, folding him before she punches the next closest soldier in the throat and disarms him of his pistol and traps him in a chokehold with the gun barrel jammed into his temple. It happened so fast, everyone else barely had any time to react.

This was Nadia and Ben's cue to fight back. Nadia used the weapon that she brought with her to subdue her hostage taker: a taser. She zapps her opponent in the groin and removes him of his bolt-action rifle.

Ben elbowed his hostage take and flips him over his shoulder and removes him of his machine pistol.

The main reason as to why none of the soldiers or mercenaries fired was because despite Jankovic being in pain, he kept a hand raised above his head, making sure not to fire. Especially not to fire right now. "Hold you fire! Hold your fire!"

Ben and Nadia walked backwards towards Lara while keeping their guns trained on the soldiers. Lara jammed her pistol harder into the soldier's temple, threatening to blow his head off. She had the leverage because she had a soldier; an initiated member of Trinity. Trinity cared too much for their people to avoid losing them. Mercenaries are completely different however.

"Listen you bloody bastards, there doesn't have to be bloodshed. I just want the cube and then we'll see if I don't blow this soldier's brains in," Lara declared. To show that she was serious, she pulled the skeletonized hammer back slowly, giving off a noise that echoed off the walls.

Jankovic was actually terrified that Lara might pull the trigger. He raised both of his hands as soon as the pain in his groin faded and he actually begged her not to pull the _trigger_. "Don't pull it, we'll give you the cube. I will give you the cube and then we will do whatever you want."

The other soldiers and mercenaries began murmuring and began saying 'what' a few times and looking at each other in confusion. Jankovic looks to three soldiers to his left and nods. The soldier nods back and looks at his gun. The soldier turns back to the others and instructs for everyone to lower their guns.

Zima and Kovak were the most confused out of all of them and they actually refused to lower their guns.

"Zima, Kovak, everyone else is doing it. You don't have to drop your weapons, all you have to do is lower them and make sure the safety is turned on. _Trust_ me." He put emphasis in the word 'trust'. The two men looked at each other and grinned. They knew that Jankovic was putting on a show for Lara and that he wants the safety of their fellow soldier to be ensured before they would kill Lara. Instead of lowering the guns, the two men shouldered their guns.

Lara was actually confused as to why they surrendered so easily. In all her past experiences with Trinity, they actually never gave up _that_ easily and they put up a hell of a fight. _The last time I had a Trinity soldier in my hands and I was surrounded by mercenaries, they actually were prepared to pull the trigger once she gave the order. If it hadn't been for the explosives on the ground, I would've been dead. Goddamn you Ana._ "You're putting on a show," she shouts. "You are trying to make it look as if I was in control of the situation."

"No honest, I am actually very concerned. I'm concerned for _his_ safety. Please place the _gun_ on the ground. This will and _won't_ go in your favor. Seriously, not gonna _work_."

Lara was not going to fall for any of his tricks. She will tip the odds in her favor. It _will_ work out for her. "How about this, you hand Ben here the cube and then we'll talk?"

Jankovic nodded and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the cube, which was now glowing and handed it slowly towards Ben. He walked carefully like he was holding a baby in his hands and that baby was his cube.

"Be very careful, this thing is thousands of years old," Jankovic said as if he was the one to discover it. He remembered that it was technically Nadia who discovered it, only because he forced her to. "Anything else? You need us to drop our pants and cough?"

"Nope, but we will need you guys to empty every single bullet you have in every single magazine," Ben answered as he waved his machine pistol around.

Jankovic glared at him with saliva streaming down his mouth like a rabid dog. "If there is one thing I won't allow, it is to have each of us become defenseless. Not from you guys, but whatever traps and monsters are down here. We will keep our guns loaded, but we will keep them pointing at the ground." He turns his head slightly. "Won't we gentlemen?"

"Yes sir!"

"Plus Ben, Lara, Nadia, I am the only one here who has total control of all these mercenaries and soldiers. Basically, you want to get to them, you have to get to me. I will not allow ourselves to become defenseless and that is final."

While Lara, Ben and Nadia were negotiating with Jankovic, Danny's face was starting to turn red. The lack of oxygen was getting higher and higher and his chest hammered against his lungs. His eyes blinked rapidly, and then began gradually slowing down like a car coming to a stop. He licked his lower lip before he gave out one long sigh and his eyes closed.

Lara's chokehold had been to tight and she didn't even realize that Danny was unconscious. She got a feeling when she felt a sudden lightness in his weight.

Lara looked at the unconscious Danny before Jankovic chuckled a little bit. He really did care for Danny's safety, but this was too much. Unfortunately, none of the other soldiers or mercenaries laughed.

At this point, Zima and Kovak had grown increasingly impatient at the fact that they were not going to get the Crown of Immortality any sooner as long as Lara was literally in the way. Their plan had been simple to just find the Crown of Immortality, kill everyone not loyal to neither of them, kill Ben, Nadia, Jankovic and escape with Lara so they can later torture her to death. But Jankovic telling everyone to stand down was really getting on their nerves. The two of them were so eager to just kill Ben, Nadia, Jankovic and the eight soldiers not loyal and just escape with the crown and Lara. After all, Lara did kill Slavik and Kovak could not let that go unpunished. Kovak's uncle was kill by Lara and now his best friend was killed by Lara. He just couldn't take it anymore.

And Lara killed Zima's best friends Ana and Konstantine. It was just too much, it was like they were underwater and them wanting to reveal themselves was like them kicking and thrashing to get to the surface. They couldn't take it anymore, they needed air.

"That's it, I can't take it anymore," Zima declares. "Removes your masks people."

Jankovic turned around and saw all mercenaries turn the safety off their guns and aim at Lara, Ben, Nadia, and most importantly Jankovic.

A huge smile formed on Jankovic's face.


	17. Chapter 17

"Well well well," Jankovic said cheerfully as he held his arms open like he wanted a hug. "You guys finally removed your masks. It took you this long though."

Zima cocked his gun, threatening to shoot Jankovic right then and there. "You knew about us? How?"

"Ivan. In Turkey, he had a wire on him and he recorded everything. I've known about the coup you, Kovak and Slavik have been planning from the very beginning."

Kovak's eyes widened realization and horror. "You killed Slavik!"

"Yes I did," Jankovic answered casually. "And it was a necessary kill and if you were in my shoes, you would understand."

"You killed my best friend!" He cried and raised his gun to shoot at Jankovic. Before he pulled the trigger, he was prompted to stop only when Zima told him not to.

"Zima, Kovak, I would like to point out that I know who is loyal to you and who is loyal to me," Jankovic said. "Danny, Glenn, Chuck, Lee, Vernon, Tate, Roger, and Beck." As he said those names, the seven (minus Danny) soldiers took position beside their leader, firmly installing their full loyalty to him. Coincidentally, all of them were Trinity soldiers while all the people loyal to Zima and Kovak were Trinity mercenaries. "The thing about my crew is that their loyalty is real and is not the kind that has to be bought. If I kill Kovak, then you Zima, will be all alone and you will deserve it."

Behind Jankovic and the seven soldiers, Lara slowly put Danny down on the ground and began walking backwards and away from the group very quietly. Ben and Nadia doing the same thing, but Nadia accidentally kicked a rock and caught the attention of the traitors.

"Stop!" Zima commands. "Come back here Lara. Unlike Jankovic, I actually want you dead. He may be following orders on keeping you alive, but he really does want you to live. It's the opposite for me however."

The mercenaires move past the loyal ones and towards the three friends. Being largely outnumbered and outgunned, they put their guns on the ground and raised their hands.

"Now, before we kill any of you, let's go look for the Crown of Immortality before it ages another thousand years." Zima motioned with his gun for everyone to move forward. Those who compiled moved, those who didn't were forced to. All the loyalists and friends were now completely naked of any guns.

* * *

When Danny woke up and his entire team was gone, he was actually little confused. He looked around everywhere and found them nowhere. The only way for him to move was forward. _Maybe they assumed I was dead and forgot to take my Trinity tags, or something._ He looked at his armpit holster hidden underneath his trench coat and found no gun there. He looked at his backup waist holster and found no gun there either. _Jankovic was right, Zima was planning a revolt against him...and Lara choked me out._

* * *

The thirty of them people continued to walk the chasms with Zima leading forward with the cube in his hand.

In Nadia jacket pocket, she had a mug of coffee with her and it was actually starting to brew...without being under a machine. When she quietly pointed this out to Lara, she became interested...and so did Jankovic standing beside them.

Lara quietly asked Jankovic, "You know what is going on with Nadia's coffee?"

"Hey Kovak, come chest out this cube, holding it feels really weird," Zima calls and Kovak comes over. The two of them exchange in a conversation, so did the mercenaries, which allowed Lara and Jankovic to whisper to each other.

"You know what's going on with that coffee?" Jankovic asked. "Being underground, there's an increase in pressure. It's like being underwater, except without a suit."

"If that were the case, then we would be crushed to death. This amount of pressure to the point of Nadia's coffee brewing indicates that we should not fire weapons down here because they are compressed, pressurized and aren't designed to withstand that much pressure. That gun would explode in your face and the bloody bullets will fly everywhere. I've heard that's what an archaeologists did back in Iceland in 1934."

"Actually, we would be crushed to death if we were underwater, and we came prepared and emptied the the gunpowder in our bullets before we got here," Jankovic admits. "We actually emptied three-fourths of it because when Michael deciphered the cube, he said that it was underground and I suggested it would be best if we empty three-fourths of our bullets."

"Don't you think we could be crushed by this pressure?" Nadia asked.

"No, our bodies aren't pressurized," Ben answered. "We don't have compressed airs within us since humans have lungs. We should be alright."

"Your dogs aren't as loyal as you thought you were?" Lara said. "You have no idea who to trust anymore do you?"

Jankovic shoots Lara a are-you-serious look. "I know who to trust. Me, I am a man who knows that everybody can be trusted to do certain things. And I will use that trust to my advantage. I trust that Zima will kill us and I trust that he will pull the trigger. If there is one thing that you can trust me with, it's that I do have a plan to escape. I do have a plan to escape alive, and with all you alive with me."

Lara shot him a glare. "Are you serious? You think that we can trust anything a Trinity agent says?"

"Actually," he says as he licks his lips. "You actually can trust a Trinity agent's word. One way or another, like you can trust that Zima will kill all of us and torture you to death once he's acquired the crown."

Zima and Kovak stopped walking as they almost walked over an edge leading to a bottomless abyss.

"Hey pricks!" Kovak shouts, walking towards the group. "No talking to each other!"

Lara and Jankovic just glare at Kovak as he stands in front of them. His gun was aimed at the floor, but his guard was still up. "Hey Zima, I've thinking…why not just waste a few of them right now. The ones we really want to see pay is Jankovic and Lara, so why not just kill Nadia and Ben?"

Nadia actually worried that Zima might actually follow Kovak's word. She did not want to die and she had to buy time somehow. Without thinking, she lunges forward and shoves Kovak.

He goes stumbling backwards and falls...not on his back...in the abyss. Nadia watched as Kovak fell thousands of feet before vanishing into darkness, his screams echoing off the wall before they became nothing. Nadia stares in horror at what she has done. She had never killed a person before and it has really taken a toll on her. She felt remorse for Kovak, but she regretted nothing because she just took care of a someone trying to kill her and her friends and bought a few more minutes of life.

Zima stared in horror down the abyss as he watched his friend fall to his death. He turns to Nadia and galres at her. "You bitch, you killed my friend!"

"It was an accident and you know it Zima," Lara said, defending her friend. "She didn't see the abyss behind Kovak, but it served him right. Now like Jankovic said, with Kovak dead, you are all alone and you deserve it you bastard."

Zima turned all his anger from Nadia to Lara instantly. He pulled out a knife and walked towards her with intent on torturing her instead of killing her. Much to his shock and surprise, Jankovic and Ben stepped in front of Zima's path, protecting Lara from any potential damage that may come her way. Zima stopped in his tracks and grinded his teeth. Lara could actually see his clean white teeth shine and she even saw a glint.

Zima saw how determined both Jankovic and Ben were in protecting Lara and decided it would be better if he did the execution later. He was not going to let his friend's death go unavenged. Although, he was having a hard time trying to come up with a plan to tell his twin brother Novak. If Novak found out his twin brother was dead, then he would go crazy. But he'll worry about that later, the Crown of Immortality was his top priority. "Consider yourselves lucky that I don't want to kill you right now," he warns as he points the knife to Nadia. "You are not going to die quickly and painlessly. You and Lara both. I'll take my time with the both of you."

Ben growled, but Jankovic put a hand in front of him and told him to stop. "I have this under control," he assures Ben, in a somewhat unconvinced voice.

 _Like hell you do,_ a voice inside Ben's head said. _He's just screwing with you Ben, he has no plan. He is just screwing with you, plain and simple._

Zima clutched the cube to his chest and walked forward with the others following. Ever since Nadia pushed Kovak to his death, everyone else had been extremely wary and made sure to stay as far away from her as possible. She must have one powerful push if she could push Kovak off his feet and into a bottomless abyss.

Nadia was muttering to herself, still shaken about killing Kovak and Lara was there to comfort her. She told Nadia that she has been in her shoes once when she made her first kill. Course it was when she was twenty-one and her first kill was on purpose and it was either her or her attempted rapist Vladimir. Now three years later, she was hesitant no more to pull the trigger and feel remorse. The thought of killing Zima however brought a smile to her face. Not the I-have-a-plan smile, the I-will-enjoy-cutting-your-throat-and-keeping-you-alive smile. Her dark side was emerging from within her once again.

* * *

 **Kovak (February 19, 1979-April 7, 2016)**

 **His twin brother will not be happy about this.**

 **That whole idea of the air being pressurised and emptying three-fourths of gunpowder from bullets is a reference to** _ **Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth**_


	18. Chapter 18

"Well then, I think we are getting closer and closer to the Crown of Immortality," Zima said. "This should be fun, I am just picturing what the divine Crown of Immortality looks like. I'm going to be the first one to put it on."

"Like a little girl trying on a dress for the first time," Jankovic commented. "You keep seeming to forget that I am the one in control of the situation. Everything you are doing, I want you to do. Me, and the loyalists soldiers are going to overwhelm every single one of you. It will be something you guys will never expect. You should just kill us right now and get it over with if you don't want us to reveal our plans." The emotionless expression on his face showed that he was being extremely serious. "Hurry up and kill us."

Lara, Ben and Nadia stared at Jankovic with wide eyes. Zima was taken aback by Jankovic and looked extremely amused. His smiles looked something like the Joker's and he even placed a single hand on his gun. "You know what, I think I'll take your words into consideration. You guys are pretty useless and the only reason I am keeping you alive is because I want you guys to witness my success. The only person I actually need to witness my success is Jankovic. So I'll spare him, and kill the rest of you. Sorry for both Ben and Nadia."

"What about me?" Lara asked. "You still want to give me a slow death like you promised?"

"Yes, so I want to people to be spared." Zima looked at his mercenaries and snapped off orders. "Line Ben and Nadia up and shoot their brains in." The mercenaries nodded and they began shoving Ben and Nadia towards the nearest wall and having them raise their hands high above their head. Lara protested, but Jankovic did not seemed the least bit concerned. Ben and Nadia were going to die because of Jankovic's arrogance and she was going to kill him herself as soon as she found a way to defeat Zima. That was a promise she intended to keep.

"Alright then ladies and gentlemen, raise your guns and fire on my command," Zima orders. He has two of his mercenaries restrain Lara and Jankovic while Zima takes position beside the firing squad. "Three…"

Lara looked at Ben, fearing that this would be the last time she would see her fiance alive. She kept on protesting for Ben and Nadia to be spared, but it was as useless as punching a robot in the face.

"Two…" Zima licked his lips.

More mercenaries began gathering around to see the execution.

Jankovic smiled in.

Lara cried.

Ben panted.

Nadia sobbed and sealed her eyes tightly shut.

"One!" Zima cried.

As the two executioners fired their assault rifles, the bullets flew right back into their faces. The gun barrels exploded and every single bullet in their magazines went flying in their faces and into other mercenaries. The executioners were dead and the eight mercenaries standing beside them were killed as well.

Zima grasped his hand as he feels a bullets pierce through, biting into his flesh and ripping his artery from his wrist. The man clutches his wrist in pain and glares in pain at Jankovic. The surviving seven mercenaries looked dumbfounded at the sudden deaths of their associates. "Jankovic!" Zima shouts in pure anger. "You sabotaged the bullets!"

Jankovic licked his lips in amusement.

Dozens of gunshots came from behind and four mercenaries were gunned down and the soldiers that were captured fought back and killed the four remaining mercenaries with their bare fists.

Lara, relieved to discover that Ben was still alive, rushed towards Jankovic's back and punched him in the back of the skull. He feels little to no pain and he kicks Lara in the chest and she staggers towards the abyss. Ben and Nadia ran and saved Lara as she almost fell over. The three of them turned and watched as Jankovic picked up the fallen cube from Zima. He gazes intently at the cube and stares at the grounded Zima. "You idiot, you honestly though you could screw with me?"

The eight soldiers watched eagerly as Jankovic scolded the treacherous Trinity soldier. They were lucky that Jankovic let them in on the plan and let them know which gun had sabotaged bullets or not.

"You could've just killed me, why didn't you?" Zima asked as he tried to crawl away. Jankovic stomped his foot on Zima's wrist, causing him to scream and forcing him to stop.

"Because, I wanted the Boss to see what kind of thin-dick backstabbing dirtbag double crossing asshole you are." Jankovic took off his leather gloves and use one hand to hold his left eyelid open and use the right hand to take something out. Zima though that he was taking out some kind of contact and much to his horror, it was a contact lense. Not the one for visually impaired, the contact lense with a camera inside. The _Mission: Impossible_ contact lenses. "I caught everything and the Boss watched live as you exposed yourself." He cackled a little at his own triumph. "Now, I'm gonna kill you now. I'll make it slow and painful because that's the kind of death you deserve."

Zima growled in anger. "You son of a b-"

A foot stomped on Zima's head before he could even finish his insult. Jankovic gazed at the crushed skull, blinking in surprise and looked up to see Ben standing with a look of anger on his face. He was huffing and puffing from the adrenaline and he looked at Jankovic before several guns were drawn to him.

"Now Ben, that was very unexpected of you. I understand why you did, but to do it right in front of me when the Boss is watching us? Don't matter anyways, the treacherous pig is dead and thank you."

"I didn't do it for you," Ben says. "I did it because of what he said to me when he and Kovak were torturing me back in your safe haven."

Jankovic leaned back and chuckled. "What did he say to you?"

Ben refused to answer and he was forced back to Lara and Nadia by a soldier. Jankovic turns around and hugs Danny tightly. He hugged him so tightly to the point that his toes barely scraped the ground. "Thank you for slaughtering those F-ing mercs."

"No problem, but I think I'll pass out again if you don't put me down," Danny says in a strained voice. Jankovic obliges and he places Danny down on the ground. "You see Lara, if you hadn't choked Danny out, then Danny never would've been able to shoot up four mercenaries." He turns around to face Lara, the cube in his hand. "Thank you for setting this course Lara. Thank you so very much. We still outnumber you three to one."

"Yeah yeah, there's nine of you total. You actually think you're any better than Zima, you said he treacherous yet you let us purposely escape from your little prison."

"After I did that, I told the Boss about it and was actually pleased with my decision. You see Lara, I am nothing like Zima. You may think so in your eyes, but I am nothing like him. So enough stalling children, and let's get going. The cube is vibrating in my hand and it is begging to go towards the Crown of Immortality. I can practically taste the crown from our location."

"Get going, we don't have a lot of time," Danny says as he follows Jankovic in whatever direction he goes. Lara, Ben and Nadia refused to walk forward until three soldiers cocked their individual guns and aimed them. They had no choice but to follow and they could not escape because the guns are sabotaged in the soldiers' guns.

"Jankovic, I normally don't say this, but thank you for saving Ben and Nadia," Lara actually says. She figured that if a villain saved her soon-to-be husband's life and good friend's life, then the least she could do, the very least she could do was show an ounce of gratitude. Even if he was an agent of Trinity.

"Why you are very welcome Miss Croft." Jankovic took extreme pleasure in the show of gratitude.

"What do you know about my father?" Lara asked. "You used to be friends with him and then Trinity happened to you. What do you know about my father?"

"Still won't let it go? It's classified." Jankovic crossed his hands and put the cube inside his jacket pocket. "If it were up to me, then I would spill the beans, but since I still have orders not to tell, you're just going to have keep guessing." He did take a large amount of amusement in the fact that he was basically playing a puppet master. "There is one thing I can reveal though: I made a pact with your father to not reveal some things about him. This was before I was an initiated member of Trinity. But like I said before, once we have the Crown of Immortality, then we can bring Richard back to life."

"No Jankovic," Lara said. "I don't want Dad to come back to life. He died and now he is at peace. I can't take that away from him. I can't disturb him while his soul is in Heaven, I just can't do it."

"Not even a little bit? Not even a little bit do you want to bring your Daddy back to life? I know deep down you would love to raise him from the dead." Jankovic did not bother to hide his smile from her.

"There is an element of truth in there, but no. It's not right. You can't save everyone Jankovic."

"Trinity will reshape the world," he says confidently. "Trinity will rid the world of sin..of weakness. We can live in a better place. A world without fear, pain or suffering. A world with no death."

"Jankovic, the cost is too high. We are humans who aren't meant to live forever. Plus, if you loved your mother, and she was dead and you raised her from the dead, how would you feel? How would you feel if your mother was an inhumane monster because of you?"

Now Jankovic's heart sank to his stomach. He didn't really like his mother, but he wasn't that heartless. His parents did abuse him, but they did it as a way to toughen him. To some degree, he still loved them and he couldn't bare to bring himself to actually turn them into zombies. And then he suddenly remembered something that his mother told him when he was five years old. _Don't let us interfere with your goals. Don't ever let us interfere with your life goals son._

Bringing his parents back from the dead wasn't his mission, saving the world was his mission. He just wanted to save the world for himself and Trinity so he can actually live instead of running and hiding from the world. Lara would never understand, if she was a Trinity member, then she would. Lara presented Jankovic with a lot of evidence on why the crown should not be found, but at the same time, she was robbing him. He was destined to save the world...and Lara was taking that from him. _I'm not the 'villain', Lara Croft is. Why didn't I see that from the very beginning?_ He began recounting all the events that led him to standing in the room; even before he met Trinity.

He was abused by his parents, went to the military, made good friends with Richard Croft, gained a liking towards Lara, earned his way into Trinity, discovered that the Crown of Immortality was real, ended up losing his best soldier and betrayed on every level possible by his close friends. Now here he was, trying to be persuaded by Lara Croft that the crown is not worth finding and that if he really wants to save the world, then drop this mission. He had been pushed too far now.

 _How dare you Croft? All of this will not be for nothing. I will die...before I let you win. I should've killed you a long time ago._

All the warmness Jankovic felt in his heart turned from love to pure rage in a flash, much faster than a bullet. "Shut yer goddamn mouth Croft! You actually think you can brainwash me into ditching Trinity's destiny? _MY_ DESTINY? Who the hell do you think you are? You think just because your Richard Croft's daughter you can talk your way out of any situation, trying to corrupt me? I am trying to save the world and you are stopping me from achieving that quest! You have been my enemy from the very beginning. To hell with you Croft. As soon as I'm given an order to kill you, I won't hesitate. Even if you were pregnant, I wouldn't hesitate to kill you. A matter a fact, If you were indeed pregnant, I will cut your belly and yank your baby out and kill it in front of you. Afterwards, I would keep you alive so you can live everyday, knowing that because of your actions...your child is dead."

Lara put a hand to her belly as she felt a pain in her heart. A pain that was identical to that of being stabbed in the heart. All the kindness in Lara that tried to persuade her to try and change Jankovic was completely erased. Wiped from existence completely, but her dormant killer side, was reawaken now because of him; all because of him. Now she had only one goal in mind once the Crown of Immortality was found. One goal in mind that she was going to carry out to the very end: kill Jankovic.

Once again, her smile returned and she laughed at the idea of how she was going to kill him.

* * *

 **Zima Horvath (1984-April 7, 2016)**


	19. Chapter 19

After thirty minutes of thinking, planning and bickering, the twelve of them have finally made it to the last room in the chasms. Jankovic was at the front of the group and the chest was vibrating intensely like a heart during a heart attack. He stared in awe at the glowing crown on the ground in front of him surrounded by visible white lines protruding from the ground. Jankovic noted the diamond-like shapes on the jeweled crown and held up the cube in his hand. It was not a cube, but a diamond that had been separated from the Crown of Immortality a long time ago. "It turns out the key to the Crown of Immortality was in my hands the entire time," Jankovic says, extremely proud of himself.

Lara was unable to speak and did nothing but stare at the Crown of Immortality. The divine object is all her pupils saw. Although she kept quiet, she actually believed that in some way, the Crown of Immortality was connected to the Divine Source either directly or indirectly. With a little more research and less _guns_ aimed at her, then perhaps she could discover if the Divine Source is a lost piece of the Crown of Immortality.

Lara and Jankovic blinked in shock and surprise when the cube when flying from his hand and right into a gap between the diamonds. Jankovic took a step backwards in shock and so did the others. The diamond fused itself into the jeweled crown like a puzzle piece and the entire crown lit up a bright color. Jankovic, Lara, Ben and Nadia waited a full minute before any of the moved. Jankovic paced towards the crown quietly like he was tiptoeing around a sleeping guard. Jankovic gets down to one knee and thrusts his arms forward to grab the crown. He stared in wonder at the crown like a child and smiled smugly. "Behold this, I have finally achieved my quest in finding the crown. I am holding the actual Crown of Immortality in my hands." The jewelled crown was a little spikey and he actually pricked himself. He ignored the pain and slowly placed the crown on top of his skull, taking extra care in making sure that he does not cut himself by accident.

Lara couldn't take it anymore. She could not sit back and let her worst enemy achieve his destiny. She still had her switchblade hidden within her sleeve and she knew that this was the right time to use it. She wriggles her arm so that the switchblade rolls down her arm like a boulder down a hill. She catches the switchblade with the very tip of her middle finger and she presses a small button at the bottom of the hilt, activating a stainless silver blade and raises it above her head, and like in slow motion, she rockets it forward and the blade slices through the air and lodges itself deep into Jankovic's back. The Trinity commander's eyes widen and he freezes in time. The knife did not pierce him all the way through him, but it did stake him a fraction in the heart.

The man falls to one knee and the crown falls out of his hands and rolls away and back in the middle of the ground where it was initially placed. Blood streamed down Jankovic's mouth like he was a vampire and he collapsed to his back, pushing the knife deeper into his back and heart.

Ben and Nadia fought back quickly and turned the guns on the Trinity soldiers and they blow them to Hell. Pretty soon, all eight of the soldiers were killed and their guns were kicked to the side.

Nadia didn't kill any of the soldiers, only did Ben and Lara did. Lara snapped the last Trinity soldier's neck-Danny's-and kicked his corpse to the side. Lara huffed and walked towards Jankovic like a bloodthirsty lion. Lara stepped over the bleeding Jankovic and towards the fallen Crown of Immortality. Without thinking, she smashes her boot onto the Crown of Immortality without any hesitation and the crown shattered beneath her feet. All what was left of the crown were scraps of diamonds and metal.

"NO!" Jankovic shouts as he watches the one thing he truly desired (literally) shatter in front of him. "What have you done?!" He cried in pure anger and despair. "You whore! You stupid daughter of a Croft, you ruined everything. You bitch, I'm going to kill you and everyone you love!"

Lara turned to the downed Jankovic and raises the boot that she used to stomp on the crown and stomped on Jankovic's chest, burying the knife deeper into his back, all the way up to the hilt. His heart had hit an all-time low, but he was still alive and wheezing like a fish outta water. It was like God was giving him an extra few minutes to talk to her.

Ben and Nadia stared at Lara and Jankovic in, somewhat amusement.

Lara crushes her boot down on Jankovic's chest a little more and causes him extreme pain. Lara bends forward and spits in Jankovic's eye. "Call me a blasphemous for spitting on your bloody eye, but I just want you to know something mate. I want you to know that Trinity is going to be buried in the ground for everything you've done. You killed my father and thousands of innocent people for your own selfish purposes. I just want you to know that once I make Trinity nothing more than a myth, I am going to be living a good life with my husband. I will take your advice and have a few children and I promise that they will grow up without having to worry about being hunted by a secret group of zealots. I'll make sure you are buried down here and nobody will find your corpse. If there's anything you would like to say while I am still around and you are still alive, then I suggest you say it right now."

Jankovic was taken aback by her monologue and was riddled with fury. He could not believe anything that was happening to himself. He not only lost all his friends, had his right-hand man turns on him while being humiliated live for the Boss to see and see the very object he desired destroyed right in front of him. Icing on the cake, he had been spit on, backstabbed literally by Lara Croft had been given a hate speech by her directed towards him and every single other Trinity soldier and Trinity mercenary out there.

He had failed his mission, he accepted that, he can even accept the fact that his friends turned on him and that he failed. He can accept that but if there is one thing that he cannot accept is that Trinity will not be beaten by Lara. His health was declining incredibly fast and he had to say something. He was going to speak from the heart to Lara while it was still beating. He puts a hand on his chest, putting pressure on his wound and sighs deeply. He had truly accepted death and he was waiting for it.

"Shit," Jankovic curses. "I understand that my life is numbered, the seconds I have left alive are numbered, but I want you to know Lara that your days are numbered. We-Trinity-may only have five hundred and fifty-eight initiated members, but we are everywhere. There is a total of two thousand and ninety-six of us and there is only two of you. You're outnumbered one thousand and forty-eight to one. You and Nadia are not going to survive."

Lara narrowed her eyes upon the realization that Jankovic said her and Nadia and left Ben out completely. "Wait a goddamn minute, why did you say me and Nadia and leave Ben out?"

Jankovic laughed as if it was some sort of big joke. "Ben is going to die. Your future husband and potential father of your children is going to die in your hands. You are going to get the moment to say goodbye to him and you will be broken. Trinity will get a victory out of this battle and you will not be walking home with a trophy. You think you have Trinity outnumbered. We have the resources, we have the numbers, we have the archaeologists and we have the world power to ruin your life. All it takes to end your life with you alive is a simple flip of the switch. Like flipping the switch to a fan in your living room. Ben. Is. Going. To. Die. I take comfort in the fact that Trinity is going to outnumber you by thousands of years. We've done it before. If we wanted to, you should be dead from the inside within twenty-four hours." He leans forward and pulls something out of his pocket. An envelope with blood on the outside. "Your father wanted me to give this to you. Cry and don't hold back any tears or else it will only cause you to break down in a place that will make you feel uncomfortable."

His health was no less than one percent. "I...hope..you...take comfort...in knowing...that…" He begins to drown in his own blood. "I...be...torturing...your father...in...the...afterlife." He said his last words as his head laid all the way on the ground, his body going limp, his chest stopped moving and nothing came out his mouth other than blood. He died holding the letter in his hand and the last thing he was looking at before he died was Lara Croft.

"I take comfort in knowing that you'll burn in Hell," Lara says as she pries the letter from Jankovic's cold and bloody fingers. She took two fingers and used them to shut Jankovic's eyes with them. "Tell Vladimir, Mathias, Ana and Konstantine that I said hello." She rolled Jankovic over to remove the knife from his back and wiped it clean against his pants.

She looked at the envelope in her hands and she folded it neatly and placed it in the back of her pants. Her knife was put away and she turned back to Ben and Nadia and went to go hug the two.

"What are we going to do now Lara?" Nadia asked.

"We are going to find our way out of here somehow and we are going to seal this entrance up for good and make sure that this place is never discovered again," Ben answered.

"It should be difficult to find this place without the cube, because I destroyed it," Lara said. "You know Ben, we are in Rome and we can use this moment to plan our weddings. We can even get married here, if you want to."

Ben liked that idea. "Hell yes let's get married in Rome."

* * *

 **I gotta say, it was very hard for me to write the death of Jankovic Jurisa (February 5, 1971-April 7, 2016). He was my favorite villain to write in this fanfiction and what I like about him is that he uses charisma to get what he wants and he believes that Trinity really is doing a good thing and he really wants to make the world a better place by ridding it of sin. He does not use sadism to intimate Lara, but he uses what knowledge and goals he does have in mind to try and win her over. He is quite different from the other Tomb Raider villains because he is a villain whose intentions seem pretty clear and he is willing to eliminate any threat in his way as long as his goal is completed, but at the same time, he does not wish any initial harm against Lara, despite being a major thorn in not only his side, but in Trinity's side. Most of the Tomb Raider villains in the reboot series are pretty determined to kill Lara but Ana does not harbor any true hatred towards Lara, just like how Jankovic never harbors any true hatred towards Lara in any way possible. Coincidentally, both Ana and Jankovic knew Lara since she was a child. Had Jankovic been completely unfamiliar with Lara, then he wouldn't have hesitated to bring any harm towards her. But even villains like Jankovic have a breaking point, his breaking point is similar to Ana's though. Both still offered Lara a chance, but Lara made them both furious to the point where any love they had within them was wiped out completely. Honestly, I don't know if I will write another villain like Jankovic. I will.**


	20. Chapter 20

When Lara, Ben and Nadia found an alternate route out of the Tomb of the Crown of Immortality, they sealed the entrance shut for good and they used their current opportune moment to vacation around the great city of Rome located in Italy. They had the money to spend a few weeks there and why not? Nadia was not needed back in Siberia and she was actually looking to buy a house in Europe so she can continue to go on missions with Lara and Ben in the future. She was originally going to be an engineer for when she grew up, but when she saw the kind of adventures that Lara goes on pretty regularly, she decided to get a job in archaeology and engineering. Several days later, on April 17, Lara and Ben finally got married at the most famous wedding place in Rome: The St. Peter's Basilica. There were not a lot of people who attended, only friends of Lara's who happened to be in Italy at the time...and friends of Ben who happened to be in the area. Lara wanted her friends Sam, Jonah and Kaz to attend, and she was disappointed to discover that they were unable to. Didn't matter because if they ever renew their vows, then they would attend. The person marrying Ben and Lara was a judge they met in the Vatican who spoke no English, only Italian. Luckily for them, they could speak Italian and Lara actually found the idea of a judge marrying them in the Italian language romantic. They were also lucky to have Italian currency, otherwise the judge never would've married them if they had British pounds.

Ben was speechless about the wedding dress Lara was in.

Nadia was not a guest _at_ the wedding, she was _in_ the wedding, being the bridesmaid. This was one of the few times where Nadia actually removes her hat from her head and displays her night sky colored hair. Lara found her hair to look very beautiful and told Nadia that she should show her hair more often. Nadia had agreed to this and told Lara that she would wear less hat and show more hair.

The judge said a few marriage verses in Italian before he gave instructions for Lara to take the ring from Nadia...being the ring bearer and both the bridesmaid and to place it on Ben's fingers. The judge tells her to say, "I, Lara Croft take Ben Wheldon to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us apart." Lara follows instructions without any hesitation.

The judge then turned to Ben and instructed for him to take a wedding ring from Nadia and to place it on Lara's finger. "I, Ben Wheldon take Lara Croft to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us apart."

The judge said a few more words in Italian before announcing that Lara Croft and Ben Wheldon were now husband and wife. "Tutto fatto (All done)," the judge declared.

Ben stared at the judge with a smile on his face. "Che dire baciare la sposa (What about kissing the bride)?"

"Sicuro (Sure)." And with that, the judge kisses Lara on the lips. A laugh broke out among the guests at the wedding before Ben was finally allowed to kiss his new bride on the lips.

One of the games that Lara and Ben played at their wedding was a game called the shoe game. ( **You can see videos of the shoe game on Youtube** ) Even though they just met each other two months ago (on February the 17th), they still managed to learn more and more about each other in between the two months and answered the questions like the answers were on the back of their hands. Nadia was the one asking the questions and she was having a lot of fun doing it.

Their wedding was impromptu, but they somehow managed to get the right cake and everyone of the guests were eating deliciously. It was almost midnight and that meant that the wedding was almost over.

For their honeymoon, both Lara and Ben took a cruise in the Mediterranean sea while Nadia relocated to England to buy an inexpensive house that Lara suggested. She paid her own money for it and Nadia set up shop there and waited patiently for Lara and Ben to return from their honeymoon.

* * *

Every night that they would sleep in their cabin on their cruise ship would be a romantic night. ;) When Ben was asleep, Lara gazed at the letter in her hands that Jankovic gave to her. If there was one thing she learnt about letters it's that if you are having a good day, then you don't want a sad letter to ruin it. Or if you are having a good day, then a good letter won't make it any better. If you're having a bad day, then that would be the best time to open a sad letter (as if your day couldn't get any worse). She missed her father, but she was not going to read his letter while on her honeymoon with her husband. She wished her father had been there to walk her down the aisle though, but ever since she accepted that her father was dead, she accepted that her father wouldn't be able to walk her down the aisle.

The one thing she always swore she would do for her late father though would be that when she gets married, she would hyphenate her name, whether she was married to a guy or girl. Her name was now Lara Croft-Wheldon. She was the last surviving Croft member so if she wanted to keep her family's legacy, she had to keep her original surname Croft. Ben was completely on board with this. Now all they had to do was have children and retire from life threatening adventures.

* * *

When the returned back home to Croft Manor, the place looked as clean as it could be. There was dust all around the place and it looked to be deserted in every room. Lara was actually expecting some kind of Trinity soldier or mercenary to be in their waiting and watching, but she was proven wrong and she was glad.

The first room they went into was Lara's bedroom and they both rested on the bed, exhausted as if they haven't slept in years. Lara was the first one to thaw the ice between them. "Hey Ben, back in Rome, when you stomped on Zima's skull, you said that you did because he said something to you. What was it?"

Ben stretched his arms before he answered. "He said that he was going to mutilate our child if we ever had one. He said he was going to toss our child into a grinder and force us to watch."

Now Lara felt anger filling her up. She was now glad that Zima was dead and that his plans for upstaging Jankovic had failed. She felt no sympathy for the evil bastard. "You did the right thing by smashing his skull in. I would've done the exact same thing if I were you." She regretted nothing that she said. She rubbed her knee caps a few times before she spoke again. "Do you want to have kids with me one day?"

"One day," Ben answered. "I would love to be a father, and the voices in my head are even excited for me to become a father. I need to take care of the voices in my head, but yes I would love to be the father of your children."

"If we have a boy, what would you like to name him?"

Ben did not take too long to answer. "Ben Jr." It was like he scripted his response. "And for a girl, it can be Little Lara."

"I think our children should have unique names," Lara reasoned. "Imagine two Lara Croft-Wheldons."

"Yeah, I can see how that can be a little confusing," he agrees.

"I love you Ben," Lara says and hugs him.

"I love you too Lara."

The window beside them shatters and Ben winces as if he was electrocuted. Lara looked at the window, and then she looked at what Ben was looking at: blood on his chest. Ben touched his chest and his fingertips were covered in blood. The shirt that he was wearing was beginning to turn a blood red color.

Lara's heart drops to her stomach instantly and Ben falls onto his back on the bed. Tears streamed down Lara's face as she applied pressure to her husband's chest. She felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart from behind. "Please Ben, don't die on me," she begs ands sobs, desperate to save her spouse.

"Ben stay with me, don't you dare die on me."

Blood leaked from his mouth.

* * *

"Bullseye," Bank says proudly as he looks through the scope of his suppressed M21 sniper rifle. "A perfect lungshot. He'll be dead in two minutes, giving Lara plenty of time to grieve." He jumps down from the tree he positioned himself in and joins up with Ciernik, Novak, Ivar and 1-7. "The Boss has made it clear that he wants Ben Wheldon dead and he wants Lara to be a personal agent of Trinity. Our orders are to execute Ben with a fatal lung shot and then we let Lara grieve. We let her cry her eyes out."

"She will pay for killing Jankovic," Ciernik declares. "We should take her in right now while she is sad."

"No," Bank protests. "As of Jankovic's death, I am in charge and anything I say goes and we let Lara suffer in grief from the lost of her now husband."

Novak and Ivar was displeased by this because of the deaths of Kovak and Ivan. 1-7 didn't mind either way.

"So we just leave sir?" Ivar asks.

"Walk out the door like nothing happened?" Novak clarified.

Bank nods. "Yes, we head out right now while Lara is still holding Ben in her hands."

"Where are we going sir?" 1-7 asked.

Bank had a smile formed on his face as he hatched an idea of where to go for awhile. They were given orders to let Lara grieve indefinitely before they move in to capture her once more. Bank already had an idea of where to go on vacation. "We're going to Romania, any objections? Nope, so let's head on down to the airport and have Ivar fly us to Transylvania."

* * *

"Laarraa," Ben wheezed. "Laarraa…"

"I'm here for you Ben, I'm here for you Ben." She buried her crying face into his shoulder and held his hand tightly. Lara could feel pressure coming from Ben's hand and knew that he was still alive, but he was dying slowly. "I'm here Ben." She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him through her teary eyes.

"I...love...you…" The pressure around Lara's hand was slowly fading away, getting looser and looser by the second.

"I love you too Ben, I love you too." She sobbed with all her heart. Her bedsheets were covered in blood and so were her hand palms. "I'll never forget you." She made sure that she kept that promise to her husband. She knew that no matter what, he was going to die. She did not want to accept it at first, but she just had to accept that Ben was going to die and the gunshot to his lung was fatal and something completely irreversible. She couldn't imagine life without her husband. She would be lost without him, falling into an abyss without a hand to reach and pull her up. First she lost her mother, then her father, her butler Winston, betrayed by Ana, lost her surrogate father and several friends and now most of all...she lost her husband. Her surrogate father and friends died on their own terms along with her mother and butler Winston, but everyone else; her father, Ana and husband were all killed by...Trinity. She knew this right off the bat and just even the mention of Trinity made her blood boil like lava.

All the pressure in Lara's hand caused by Ben's hand faded instantly and Ben's eyes closed for the very last time. He died, but he was still holding his wife's hand.

Lara sobbed her eyes out, her heart melting inside her and she squeezed her dead husband's hand tightly. She continued to cry with her face buried in her husband's stomach. She had no idea where her husband was right now, but she hoped that he was in Heaven and was at peace. All of a sudden, all the sadness in her disappeared. Vanished like the closing of a curtain and something replaced it. Something that has never existed in her before. Something that had been completely dormant within her just begging to get out for a very long time. She lifts her head up from her husband's stomach and her face was covered in blood, giving her the uncanny appearance of an psychopathic brutal person. There was nobody to blame except for one group. One group that has taken everything away from her since the very beginning. She growls and makes a fist with her hand. With Ben gone, then there was nothing stopping the killer growing from within her.

"Trinity…"

* * *

 **In loving memory of Lara Croft's husband Ben Wheldon (January 1, 1992-April 28, 2016). He was a good character to write and I actually feel some sadness that he is gone. Ben just got married to Lara and he had to die. He will be missed and Lara will definitely miss him. Just to let you fans know, I intended for Ben to die right from the beginning. I needed to give Lara a reason to harbor vengeance against Trinity and want to kill every single Trinity member. I still dreaded writing this chapter though.**

 **RIP Ben Wheldon**

 **Beloved Husband, and Friend**

 **He is confirmed dead, but his story is not over yet...not by a long shot.**

* * *

Credits

Lara Croft

Ben Wheldon

Nadia (Whatever her last name is)

Jankovic Jurisa

Zima Horvath

Kovak

Slavik Kennedy

Ivan Kuznetsov

Suitcase Man

Bellhop in hotel

Kazim (Mercenary #1)

Oktan (Mercenary #2)

Markie (Mercenary #3)

Michael (Trinity soldier #1)

James (Mercenary #4)

Pete (Mercenary #5)

Waldo (Mercenary #6)

Danny (Trinity soldier #2)

Glenn (Trinity soldier #3)

Chuck (Trinity soldier #4)

Lee (Trinity soldier #5)

Vernon (Trinity soldier #6)

Tate (Trinity soldier #7)

Roger (Trinity soldier #8)

Beck (Trinity soldier #9)

Judge

* * *

 **It took me 118 days to write this. Thank you all for reading.**


End file.
